Thibaut Courtois, who has one year remaining at Chelsea has been continually linked with Real Madrid. (Source: Reuters)
Thibaut Courtois’ agent has called on the Chelsea hierarchy to let the Belgium international move to Real Madrid in the current transfer window. Courtois, who has just one year remaining on his contract at Stamford Bridge has been continually linked with the Spanish club who have valued his services at £32m. Courtois’ agent Christophe Henrota stated that he expects more compassion from Chelsea as Courtois wants to join Madrid for family reasons.
“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,” Henrotay said in an interview with Sky Sports.
“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.”
Refuting claims that money is the sole reason behind his move, Henrotay said, “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.”
“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.”
“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,” he explained.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri is still unsure of what lies ahead. “At the moment Courtois is the goalkeeper of Chelsea,” Sarri said, ahead of the club’s Community Shield clash against Manchester City on Sunday. “I don’t know in the future. It depends on the club, it depends especially on him, but I hope Courtois will be our goalkeeper.”