Real Madrid reportedly sent scouts to watch Chelsea’s FA Cup tie with Manchester United on Monday night, with two players on the agenda in particular.
According to The Sun, David de Gea and Thibaut Courtois were the focus of their attention, as the La Liga giants continue to be linked with a move for one of the pair.
Keylor Navas seemingly doesn’t have the confidence of the club to hold down the position between the posts for the long term future, and so in turn speculation of a move for either De Gea or Courtois doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
It’s fair to say that De Gea was the busier of the two goalkeepers as he produced some stunning saves in a game which Chelsea dominated and eventually won 1-0 thanks to a long-range effort from N’Golo Kante.
Nevertheless, Courtois did have to stay alert and denied Marcus Rashford to keep a clean sheet and secure safe passage for his side into the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
At this stage, it doesn’t seem to be a particularly clear picture as to which star shot-stopper is top of the list for Madrid, as both would significantly boost the quality in that squad and give them a world-class goalkeeper capable of being a first-team starter for the best part of another decade at least.
In contrast, neither Jose Mourinho nor Antonio Conte will want to lose a key piece of their plans at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge respectively, and so they will likely do all they can to avoid seeing them leave as it will be a bitterly tough task to replace them given the shortage of top-quality, reliable and experienced goalkeepers on the market.