Chelsea will re-open contract talks with Thibaut Courtois before end of season

Chelsea will attempt to re-open contract negotiations with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois before the end of the season amid fears he is willing to run his current deal down.

Courtois last week revealed that talks over a new contract had stalled and that he is happy to leave further negotiations until the summer, when he will only have 12 months remaining on his current deal.

That has sparked renewed interest from Real Madrid and alerted Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, who will be in the market for a new goalkeeper in the summer.

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But Chelsea do not want to risk leaving talks until the end of the season and will move before then to try to make progress on a new deal for Courtois.

Already facing criticism for selling the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Mohamed Salah, the Blues are well aware that they will come under even greater scrutiny if they are forced to sell Courtois or see him walk away on a free transfer.

Head coach Antonio Conte has warned Chelsea will lose the best goalkeeper in the world if Courtois leaves Stamford Bridge. He has conceded only one goal in his last four games and made a brilliant stop to prevent Salah netting a later winner for Liverpool at the weekend.

Courtois has insisted that the hold-up over his contract is due to the number of games Chelsea are playing, rather than a disagreement over money.

But the 25-year-old, who earns around £100,000-a-week, turned down Chelsea’s first proposal back in May and is believed to want parity with David De Gea, who earns just over £200,000 at Manchester United.

Chelsea quoted Real £73 million, which was worth €100m at the time, for Courtois in the summer of 2015, which means his agent can claim the Belgian should be the best-paid goalkeeper in the world.

Although their first priority is trying to keep Courtois, Chelsea are interested in Stoke City’s Jack Butland as a potential replacement if no new contract can be agreed.

Chelsea remain confident that Eden Hazard will sign a new contract, even though his current deal does not expire until 2020.