Promising young goalkeeper could make way as Mourinho eyes quality addition upfront.
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Thibaut Courtois’ future could finally be set to come to a conclusion, as the on-loan Chelsea goalkeeper could be offered to Atletico Madrid on a permanent deal as the Blues look to land in-form Brazilian striker Diego Costa from the Spanish side.
Courtois is currently into his third season on loan with Atletico, and continues to impress as one of the best young goalkeepers in the world, though he doesn’t seem any nearer displacing Petr Cech as number one at Stamford Bridge.
This has seen the young Belgian linked with a move to Barcelona, who are on the lookout for a new goalkeeper for next season when Victor Valdes leaves the club, though a permanent move to Atletico now looks on the cards as Chelsea hope to use the 21-year-old as part of an exchange deal to sign prolific forward Costa.
The 24-year-old continued his highly impressive start to the season with the winning goal against rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Saturday, and his exploits in front of goal have impressed Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, whose side are short of a top quality striker at the moment.
Mourinho had hoped to sign Wayne Rooney from Manchester United for much of the summer in a bid to replace the likes of Fernando Torres and Demba Ba, though in the end he failed to lure the England international away from Old Trafford.
This led the Portuguese coach to bring in veteran striker Samuel Eto’o on a one-year contract from Anzhi Makhachkala, though the former Barcelona star has shown his age in the Premier League after failing to impress so far for the Blues.
Chelsea have also been linked with the likes of Porto star Jackson Martinez and Juventus’ Fernando Llorente to solve their problems upfront, but Costa now looks to be Mourinho’s prime candidate, and the former Real Madrid manager sees an opportunity to land him on the cheap with the possibility of offering Courtois in return.
Costa has 7 goals in 8 appearances in La Liga so far this season, putting him level with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as the top scorer in the division, and this kind of record in front of goal could prove vitally important to Chelsea as they look to confirm their status as title contenders this season.
The Brazil international had been linked with Liverpool over the summer, though Atletico have been keen to hold out for big-money offers for their star player, and may still command £25m or more even with the inclusion of Courtois in the deal.