After winning the Golden Glove at this summer’s World Cup, speculation has been plentiful in regards to Thibaut Courtois’ future ,with Chelsea reportedly agreeing to a fee with Real Madrid.
Thibaut Courtois is having the time of his life right now. The Belgian shot stopper has just wrapped up a World Cup campaign where he secured the Golden Glove while playing a crucial role in leading his nation to their best finish ever (Third Place).
Now, the Chelsea keeper may be on the brink of getting a dream move to Real Madrid to come true.
According to French publication RMC Sport, the Spanish Giants and Chelsea have agreed to a €35 million fee for Courtiois. An absolutely shocking figure for what could be the world’s best goalkeeper.
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As pointed out by Bleacher Report’s James Dudko, although Chelsea may not feel compelled to sell their ace goalkeeper, they simply may have no choice as Courtois is out of contract next summer, subsequently giving the Londoners little to no leverage in fee negotiations with Madrid.
A tale of which is worse.
At this point, selling Courtois and at least receiving compensation in return would seem a whole lot better than potentially losing him to free come next summer.
Should Chelsea choose not to sell this summer, everything points towards Courtois leaving the club next summer anyway.
Reports do however suggest that a potential deal sending Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid will not go through until Chelsea secure an adequate replacement.
First on Chelsea’s wish list to replace Courtois would be Roma and Brazil keeper Allison, but reports suggest Liverpool are making another strong run at him, tempting Roma with a fee that would top what Manchester City paid for Ederson.
Although Chelsea remain keen on Allison, all signs currently point to the Blues not wanting to get into a massive bidding war with the Reds for a world record figure.
Other options such as Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel, who according to Sky Sports, Chelsea are keen on along with former Blues shot stopper Petr Cech.
What does this mean for Keylor Navas?
Another interesting scenario would be what would happen in regards to Keylor Navas.
Should Chelsea allow Courtois to make his desired move to Real, then it is a strong possibility that Navas would leave for another club. The multiple Navas scenarios only complicate the summer transfer window’s goalkeeping frenzy.
With Navas hypothetically out at Madrid, Liverpool could decide to snatch up the Costa Rican for a smaller fee and then leave Allison to either stay at Roma or move to Chelsea.
But remember, Chelsea are said to not want to sell Courtois to leave until they secure a replacement, but would the Blues sell Courtois first if they could later get their hands on Allison or Navas?
In truth, the goalkeeping situations at several of Europe’s top clubs are becoming more complicated by the day and we could see multiple deals done or none at all.
For now though, it seems as though Chelsea and Real Madrid are moving closer and closer to a deal to send Thibaut Courtois back to the Spanish capital.
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Do you think Real Madrid will sign Thibaut Courtois? Who do you think Chelsea will try to replace him with if they sell?