Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was initially due to report to the team today, but now it appears his arrival won’t come until Monday. Courtois was on an extended post World Cup holiday with Belgium, on the heels of their historic third place finish in the tournament.
The Belgian and Chelsea number one has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid all summer long, and his agent Christophe Henrotay has told The Sun that his client wants a move to the European champions.
“I have been reading everywhere that Chelsea are saying it is up to Thibaut, but he has made it clear to the club that the best option for him is to move to Madrid,” said Henrotay.
“For him this is a big decision because he wants to be near his family, and there is an offer in place for Chelsea to accept. We have seen suggestions that it is about money, and it is true he could get an increase with a move. But he has turned down a better offer elsewhere because this is more than a financial decision.”
Courtois has often said in public that his heart is in Madrid, where his two small children and their mother live. It’s also the city where he spent three years on loan with Atletico.
The Blues shot stopper, currently in the final year of his contract, has also repeatedly voiced his affection for Spanish culture.
“Throughout this it has important for everyone to be reasonable, and the buying club has come up with a reasonable offer for a player who has one year left on his contract when they know they could sign him without a fee in 12 months,” Henrotay continued.
“Chelsea could get a fair fee for him now and sign a replacement. Or they would still have to sign a replacement next summer, but without getting a fee for Thibaut. It is understandable people might be upset because he wants to leave the club, we accept that, but this is a human decision based on someone wanting to be close to his children — and that is a reasonable thing too.”
It’s been widely reported that the “reasonable offer” has already been agreed upon, and it’s a sum of £34 million.
If that seems very low, and it certainly is within the context of Liverpool breaking the world goalkeeper record a couple weeks ago in getting Alisson for £67 million, it’s because of all the reasons Henrotay stated above.
Chelsea don’t have much bargaining power to drive the price up, because the player is entering the final year of his deal. The Blues reportedly won’t sell until they get a suitable replacement, and that doesn’t seem to be close to happening right now, and time is running out to do so. The summer transfer window closes Thursday at 5 pm.
Additionally, new Blues boss Maurizio Sarri is set to hold crunch talks with Courtois (Eden Hazard as well, who is also a Real Madrid target) encouraging both to stay; according to 90 Min and the Daily Express.
Chelsea face Manchester City in the Community Shield tomorrow. They open their regular season slate a week from today against Huddersfield Town.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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