Thibaut Courtois has thrown his long-term Chelsea into further doubt after revealing family reasons will be the reason he leaves the Premier League champions.
The Belgium international has 18 months left to run on his current Chelsea deal and has already shelved contract extension talks until the summer, putting Real Madrid on red alert.
Courtois has previously been linked with a move to Madrid and will certainly come into consideration by the European champions if they look to replace Keylor Navas at the end of the season.
Chelsea are determined to wrap up Courtois’ long-term future as quickly as possible, but have been served a further blow after their No.1 goalkeeper revealed he would like to return to Spain at some point to be closer to his family.
“Everybody knows that due to my personal situation, Spain attracts me. If it is not now, it will be in some years,” he told Spanish radio station LaSexta, via The London Evening Standard.
Courtois spent three seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid before returning to Chelsea as their No.1 man between the sticks in 2014 and has developed into one of the best goalkeepers in Europe since then.
In that period, only David de Gea (48) and Hugo Lloris (41) have kept more clean sheets in the Premier League than Courtois (40).
