Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos is pushing for Keylor Navas to retain his number one spot at the club ahead of new arrival Thibaut Courtois.
Navas moved to the Bernabeu in 2014 from fellow La Liga outfit Levante and he quickly established himself as the club’s number one shot-stopper, on his way to making 147 appearances for the club to date.
The Costa Rica international has been a reliable figure between the sticks and was an integral part of Zinedine Zidane’s team which managed to win the last three Champions League titles in succession.
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However, his consistent displays were not enough to stop the club from seeking out a new goalkeeper this summer, as Thibaut Courtois arrived from Chelsea for £35 million during the transfer window – as per The Mirror.
Despite the Belgian’s pedigree at both international and club level and an impressive CV with titles won in England and Spain, it appears that the current crop of Los Blancos players still favour Navas as the top goalkeeper at the club, with Don Balon reporting that Ramos has urged Julen Loeptegui not to replace him with Courtois.
Don Balon states that there is ‘pressure from above’ from club president Florentino Perez on the new Madrid boss to start the former Chelsea ‘keeper ahead of Navas, but several members of the squad, including Ramos, Isco, Luka Modric and Marco Asensio, believe such a decision would be unfair on the Costa Rican star.
Both men are brilliant between the sticks and the European Champions are fortunate to be faced with such a selection dilemma, but it appears that Courtois will have to earn the respect of his new teammates before being truly accepted as the club’s new number one.
The fact that he once played for their fierce local rivals Atletico may have something to do with the frosty reception he has received too, as his ‘dream’ move to the Bernabeu continues to get off to a somewhat sour start.