The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Chelsea keeper eyes Champions League
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois wants to win the Champions League with Chelsea.
The Belgium goalkeeper has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, who are also reportedly coveting Eden Hazard for £100 million.
Striker Diego Costa has also been linked with a summer departure from Stamford Bridge, with rumours of a lucrative move to the Chinese Super League refusing to go away.
But head coach Antonio Conte wants to keep his Premier League winners together and augment his double-seeking squad for next season’s European challenge.
Conte’s comments suggest he will reject reported overtures from Inter Milan.
Courtois said on chelseafc.com: “Obviously next year there is a new goal with the Champions League coming for us.
“It’s been a few years since Chelsea have won it and I missed out on one in the last minute, so a lot of players are hungry to win that as well.”
Chelsea won the 2012 Champions League, with only Gary Cahill and David Luiz of the current squad involved. John Terry was suspended for the final and leaves the club this summer.
Courtois and Costa were in the Atletico Madrid team which reached the 2014 final and lost to Real. They had beaten Chelsea – with Courtois playing against his parent club in his third year on loan at Atletico – in the semi-finals.
Chelsea were absent from the Champions League this season for the first time since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003.
Only by winning the trophy did they qualify for the 2012-13 competition.
Conte faces another challenge in the final two home games for the Premier League winners Chelsea – balancing sentiment with planning for the FA Cup final.
Chelsea, who clinched the title with Friday’s 1-0 win at West Brom, play Watford tonight and relegated Sunderland on May 21, before the May 27 final with Arsenal.
Terry will hope to lift a 16th and final major trophy with Chelsea at Wembley and will have bid farewell to Stamford Bridge by then.
The 36-year-old has 715 appearances and could make three more, if he features in the remaining three games at the end of his 22 years of service.
Head coach Conte sees Terry as understudy to Luiz in the centre of his three-man defence. And Luiz knows Chelsea must maintain momentum.
“If I say I’m not thinking about winning the double, I am a liar,” Luiz said.
“Of course we think about this, but we need to think day by day, rest well, keep ourselves very good in these next two games to have a top performance against Arsenal.
“It will be a difficult game against a fantastic team, so we need to be at a high level.”
Conte will try to balance his preparations for Wembley and keeping his leading players sharp with rewarding those who have had less game time this term.
Michy Batshuayi could get his first Premier League start against Watford after scoring the title-clsinching goal on his 18th substitute appearance.
And N’Golo Kante could return after missing out on a league appearance for only the third time this season.