Atletico Madrid willing to spend over £20 million for on-loan Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has admitted that the club are willing to spend over £20 million to sign goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea permanently.

The 21-year-old has spent the last three seasons on loan with the Spanish side, and having joined the club in 2011, the Belgian international is still yet to make his debut for the Blues.

A fourth consecutive season on loan seems unlikely for the Belgian and Atletico are now ready to make a serious offer to keep him on a permanent basis.

Speaking on national television, Simeone claimed his team would spend €26m to keep Courtois, who has enjoyed a lot of success during his time with the club.

“Definitely,” he said after being asked if the club would spend the money. For me anything paid for Courtois would be cheap.

“He’s a young guy who has a huge future and is on track to becoming one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Signing a goalkeeper of his calibre would be a big step, but it will not be easy.

“It depends on what Courtois wants, the club (Chelsea) knows our needs, but it is not up to us, because he is is not our player.”

Courtois recently admitted that he needs to know where his future lies as he is not prepared to go out on-loan again next season.

“About my future, I cannot wait much longer,” he said.

“I need to make a decision with Chelsea as soon as possible, in March, but at the moment I do not really want to talk because there are so many games and you must be focused.”

Courtois has kept 10 clean sheets in 20 La Liga games this season.