Thibaut Courtois Goes AWOL From Chelsea, Eyes Real Madrid

TONY BANKS

Thibaut Courtois has gone AWOL from Chelsea in an attempt to force through his move to Real Madrid – and the Blues have four contenders to replace the goalkeeper.

He was due to return after holiday to training with Chelsea on Monday afternoon where talks with new manager Maurizio Sarri were scheduled, but he did not turn up at the club’s Cobham HQ.

Chelsea are now in a desperate race to sign a replacement goalkeeper before Thursday’s 5pm transfer deadline – with Stoke’s Jack Butland, AC Milan’s Pepe Reina, Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak and Sevilla’s Sergio Rico possible contenders.

Courtois was due to be at Chelsea’s Community Shield game against Manchester City on Sunday, which they lost 2-0, with the rest of the non-playing squad, but did not show up.

The 26-year-old’s two children both live in Madrid where Courtois was sent on loan to Atletico shortly after joining Chelsea.

Real, who have been chasing Courtois for some time, have made a £35m offer for Courtois, and have been in talks with Chelsea transfer supremo Marina Granovskaia. Chelsea felt that offer was too low, even though he has only one year of his contract left.

Courtois’ agent Christophe Henrotay this week called for the club to let the goalkeeper go, but Sarri said he wanted face to face talks first. Courtois though is still in Belgium, and at the weekend was a guest at his first club KRC Genk.

It is not the first time that Courtois has gone on strike to force a move. He did it at Genk in 2011 to push through his £9m transfer to Chelsea.

Courtois’ Belgian teammate Eden Hazard has though been told he will not be leaving during this window, despite Real’s interest in him.

Butland is a long-time Chelsea target, but talks have yet to begin and the Potteries club are concerned about having time to find a replacement.

Chelsea will tonight have talks with Lyon officials over a possible £55m bid for forward Nabil Fekir. They face the French club in their final pre-season friendly.

Willian, who Chelsea rejected a £65 million bid from Barcelona last month, but who is still a target for Manchester United, has insisted he is staying at Stamford Bridge.

The Brazilian said: “I told the manager that I’m really happy playing for Chelsea.

“I never talk about leaving the club. The only club I knew that made an official offer for me was Barcelona. I intend to continue unless the club wants to sell me.”