Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is reportedly Paris Saint Germain’s top transfer target for next summer after Neymar urged his club to sign the Belgium international to improve on their goalkeeper front.
Courtois, 25, has established himself as Chelsea’s No.1 man between the sticks since the 2014/15 season, following three fantastic years out on loan with Atletico Madrid. One of the best goalkeepers in Europe, Courtois could be a superb addition for the Parisians, and Neymar has been asking his club to sign him next summer, according to Spanish news outlet Don Balon.
Neymar, who moved to PSG from Barcelona in the summer, has become the undisputed leader of the locker room and has already given the green signal to the operation since he thinks that PSG need a top-level goalkeeper to compete with the biggest in Europe.
Courtois has recently rejected the prospect of signing a new deal with us as he is reportedly keen to explore his options. This leaves the French giants in an encouraging position as the goalkeeper will be heading into the final year of his contract by next summer.
In September, PSG right-back Thomas Meunier spoke on the possibility of his Belgium compatriot Courtois moving to the Parc des Princes. Belgium international Meunier suggested that the Blues No. 1 would be an ideal fit for PSG, identifying his compatriot’s height as a key factor.
“He’s very strong, Courtois. He wouldn’t be bad at PSG. We’ve already got two good goalkeepers but Thibaut also has the profile, I think. He’s very big—nearly two metres tall,” Meunier told Le Parisien.
Courtois has firmly established himself as the Blues’ No.1 shot-stopper in recent years. He took over from Petr Cech, who now dons his gloves for Arsenal and the Belgian has been a regular under our manager Antonio Conte.
He has a contract with Chelsea that runs until 2019 and it would likely take a huge fee to tempt the Blues into selling the 25-year-old stopper.
However, PSG showed with the record-breaking £200 million signing of Neymar in the summer that they are prepared to flex their financial muscles when needed. Despite building a strong squad at the Parc des Princes, Unai Emery is arguably still lacking quality in the goalkeeping department.
Conte would be loath to let Courtois go to Paris as he could be our No. 1 for the next decade.