Chelsea may struggle to keep Thibaut Courtois at Stamford Bridge this summer with the young stopper anxious that David De Gea’s imminent Real Madrid transfer could scupper his dream of joining the Spanish giants.
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According to the London Evening Standard, the Belgium international aims to return to Spain – and wishes to one day walk out at the Santiago Bernabeu. The newspaper states Courtois’s belief that if Real target David De Gea seals a move to Madrid in the summer, it could shatter his chances of playing for the club.
David De Gea, 24, is just a year older than the Chelsea stopper, and the 23-year-old therefore allegedly believes that this summer’s window could be his only possibility of becoming Los Blancos’ no.1.
At the end of last week, Belgian newspaper HLN confirmed that Real had both Courtois and De Gea on their goalkeeping wish list.
The Brussels-based tabloid even claimed that Florentino Perez would prefer to sign the Belgian ahead of the Spaniard, and had asked whether Chelsea would be willing to sell. The Premier League champions told the La Liga giants that they would only listen to offers of €100 million, which looked to have priced the Spanish giants out of a move.
The London Evening Standard state that Courtois is happy in west London – particularly having replaced Petr Cech as Jose Mourinho’s first-choice between the posts – but is assessing his future. He has asked his representatives to establish if there is any truth in Los Blancos’ interest, but is said to not be considering forcing through a Stamford Bridge exit yet.
The David De Gea transfer chase could therefore be set for a sensational turn of events.
However, given Petr Cech looks set to leave Stamford Bridge in the summer – and is currently considering offers from Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain [via The Telegraph] – Jose Mourinho will surely block any possible attempts at Courtois leaving.