Wednesday 2 April 2014

Courtois to decide between Chelsea and Atletico 'next week'

 Courtois to decide between Chelsea and Atletico 'next week'
The 21-year-old goalkeeper is set to choose whether he will return to his parent club and compete with Petr Cech for a starting role or stay with the title-chasing Spaniards

Thibaut Courtois has revealed that he will make a decision on whether he remains with Atletico Madrid or returns to parent club Chelsea in the next week.

The Belgian goalkeeper is in the middle of his third loan spell in the Spanish capital and reinforced his status as one of the standout shot-stoppers in Europe with another fine display against Barcelona on Tuesday night.

Atletico are keen to secure a permanent deal for the 21-year-old – who has been mooted as a makeweight in a potential swap as the Blues chase striker Diego Costa – while the English club see him as the long-term successor to Petr Cech.

With both clubs wrestling over the former Genk goalkeeper, Courtois is ready to make a decision on where he will play his football next season.

"Next week it will become clear where I'm playing next season," he told Sporza.

"It's certain that it will be Chelsea or Atletico and no other club. I can't say much more about it but, in the next weeks, there will be official news."

Courtois played an influential role in Atleti's 1-1 draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou as Diego Simeone's men claimed an away goal and narrow advantage in the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

The Belgian remarked: "It was a really tough match. Last Saturday we had a very tough game against [Athletic] Bilbao so this was pretty heavy for us. We had to defend a lot and run behind the Barca players but we scored an away goal so I think that's really positive.

"I had some important saves so I'm really happy with that. I couldn't see Xavi's shot at first so I had to give everything to get to it. I knew that [Lionel] Messi would shoot his free kick over the wall so I had to have that one."

No comments:

Post a Comment