Transfer Centre

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri unsure of Thibaut Courtois future

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 03 August 2018

Maurizio Sarri unsure of Courtois future

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri 'hopes' that Thibaut Courtois will remain at Stamford Bridge, but admits that he cannot be sure whether a move to Real Madrid will go through.

Maurizio Sarri has said that he "does not know" how much longer Thibaut Courtois will remain a Chelsea player following heavy links with a move to Real Madrid.

The La Liga giants are reportedly determined to land the Belgian stopper before the end of the transfer window, which still has just under a month to run for European clubs.

Courtois has refused to play down talk of a move away from Stamford Bridge, and has also previously suggested that he could be lured to the Spanish capital as it is where his children live.

Chelsea have been tipped to move for Jordan Pickford, Kasper Schmeichel or Jack Butland if they lose Courtois, but Sarri is hopeful that a replacement will not be required for the time being.

"At the moment Courtois is the goalkeeper at Chelsea," he told reporters ahead of Sunday's Community Shield. "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."

On the subject of Willian, meanwhile, Sarri insisted that he is "very confident" of keeping the Brazilian forward in West London.