Thibaut Courtois appears to have put his Spanish longings behind him and committed to Chelsea and Antonio Conte. However, the latest rumours from Real Madrid lay bare Chelsea’s complicated goalkeeper situation.
Real Madrid have the money, ambition and gumption to pursue two of Chelsea’s biggest stars in the summer transfer window. Eden Hazard is supposedly in their sights as part of a swap for Alvaro Morata. Real is once again hoping they can lure the until-recently-chronically-dissatisfied Thibaut Courtois to La Liga.
Two factors point towards a Real raid on Chelsea’s keeper. First, according to the Evening Standard, Real are taking heart that Chelsea have not met with Thibaut Courtois to renegotiate his current contract. Courtois’s contract runs through 2019.
Chelsea were supposedly ready to re-open talks with Courtois and Diego Costa in January. Their form, the club’s success and the rarity of both players being happy at Chelsea made it the perfect time to secure a long-term commitment. However, those talks have yet to occur.
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Second, Real Madrid may be running out of options for world-class goalkeepers in the transfer market. 90min.com reports that David De Gea has no intention of leaving Manchester United. De Gea, Courtois and Hugo Lloris are Real’s prime targets. If De Gea is not interested in a transfer, Real may feel like they have no choice but to make an irresistible offer for Courtois.
Chelsea’s goalkeeper situation is one of their more convoluted personnel issues. Thibaut Courtois has long been one of Chelsea’s loudest complainants. He all but forced Chelsea to sack goal-keeping coach Christophe Lollichon – the man who guided Petr Cech throughout his Chelsea career. Courtois regularly and openly pined for a return to Spain and, in the ultimate throwback move, received an affectionate fax from Real Madrid.
Chelsea have Asmir Begovic as the world’s greatest back-up goalkeeper. Begovic will demand either a transfer or a guarantee of the starting spot at the end of this season. He likely would have left in January if Chelsea had secured a replacement. Begovic knows he is too good to only play domestic cup games. But Chelsea may not rate him high enough to start 50 games next season if Courtois leaves.
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The Blues have Jamal Blackman on loan at Wycombe Wanderers, and Polish prodigy Marcin Bulka in the Academy. Bulka is still only 17 and has not yet played any senior football. However, as at least one Chelsea observer frequently notes, Gianluigi Donnarumma debuted for AC Milan at age 16. Donnarumma is only a few months older than Bulka, and is described in much the same terms.
Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak recently popped up as a potential transfer target. Atletico will seek to turn a heavy profit on Oblak, particularly if Chelsea are the buyer. Chelsea already have several high-dollar prospects for the next window. They may not prioritize a keeper high enough to meet the price.
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Thibaut Courtois seems to have finally made his peace with Chelsea, England and the Premier League. He leads the league in clean sheets and is showing why he has carried the “world-class” tag for so long. As long as he commits to being happy, keeping him at Stamford Bridge may be the easiest, cheapest and most promising option for Antonio Conte.