Liverpool could make a sensational move for Thibaut Courtois to solve their goalkeeper problem, according to a Sky Sports News journalist.
The broadcaster’s Merseyside correspondent Vinny O’Connor has claimed on a transfer talk podcast that hotly-touted target Roma keeper Alisson is set to join Real Madrid and that could open the door for Jurgen Klopp’s team to look seriously at a deal for Courtois.
The Belgium number one has just a year remaining on his contract and has been strongly linked with a move to the Spanish giants over the last year or two.
“The interesting one for me is Thibaut Courtois,” O’Connor told the podcast (13:21). “Obviously he has been linked with Real Madrid and it seemed he wanted that move to Real Madrid.
“It seems that Chelsea are looking to get a fee for him before he is out of contract next year but Alisson is set to go to Real Madrid. Does that then free up Courtois? Will Liverpool look at him?
“I’m just surmising and throwing it out there. It’s whether Chelsea would be willing to do business with Liverpool.”
OPINION
Courtois would be a blinding signing for Liverpool. Better than Alisson and probably better than hipsters’ favourite Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid. The Chelsea keeper is a two-times Premier League winner who is second only to David de Gea among shot-stoppers in the English top flight and certainly in the top bracket of keepers across the globe. Aged 26, he is entering his peak years and is good enough to have elite clubs beating a path to his door. The 6ft 6in Belgian has snubbed a series of contract offers from Chelsea and appears willing to move on from the club he initially joined in 2011 before being loaned to Atletico for three hugely successful years. His price would not be astronomical and there would be little risk attached, as he has an excellent track record in the Premier League. But would Chelsea be willing to sell to Liverpool? That is the question. They have sold star players to top-four rivals before – Petr Cech to Arsenal and Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata to Manchester United spring to mind – but two of the three were not first choices at the time. Offloading Courtois to Liverpool might be a step too far.
