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What's the story?
Spanish La Liga title defenders Real Madrid are interested in signing Chelsea's £40 million rated goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois according to Sky Sports. The outlet's trusted La Liga expert Guillem Balague claims that the Belgian is also keen on a move to the Bernabeu.
However, the player's current club Chelsea are prepared to hand their number one a new contract that would see him become the highest earning goalkeeper in the world.
In case you didn't know...
Courtois was bought by Chelsea from Belgian club KRC Genk for a fee of about €9 million in 2011. The 25-year-old was immediately sent on loan to Real Madrid's arch-rivals Atletico Madrid for three years before he replaced Petr Cech as the number one at Stamford Bridge in 2014.
Courtois has been one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League for some time, and had attracted the interest of Real Madrid before. He has 10 cleansheets in the league this season, which is the joint best along with Manchester United's David de Gea and Manchester City's Ederson.
The heart of the matter
Contract talks are still going on between Courtois's representatives and Chelsea, but the player has his heart set on a move to Madrid as his two children live there. If the Blues are not able to convince the Belgian to sign a new contract, they will be forced to sell.
The player's suitors Real Madrid, on the other hand, are planning to change both their current goalkeepers by next summer. The Zinedine Zidane-managed side has reportedly agreed terms with Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and he is expected to join the side in January.
Los Blancos are hoping to replace Keylor Navas and make Courtois their number one by next summer.
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Author's take
Real Madrid and Courtois are very much interested in making the deal happen, and we will probably see this happen next summer unless Chelsea turn things around by convincing the player to sign a new contract.
If the Blues lose the Belgian, they could potentially turn to the likes of Jan Oblak, Sergio Rico or Jack Butland to replace Courtois in their goal.
