Thibaut Courtois gives Chelsea no comfort about extending his contract

Thibaut Courtois has said there have been no further developments in his contract negotiations with Chelsea as he continues to stall on signing a new deal amid longstanding interest from Real Madrid.

Courtois may now enter the final year of his contract without committing his future to the club and he suggests that talks will not resume until the end of the season.

Chelsea have previously warned Real Madrid off making an approach for the Belgium goalkeeper by demanding a transfer fee of more than £70m.

But their inability to tie him down to an extended deal will provide encouragement to the European champions, who will hope the 25-year-old could be tempted by a return to the Spanish capital, where he previously played for Atlético.

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Speaking in the build-up to Chelsea’s Champions League meeting with Qarabag in Baku, Courtois said: “The most important thing is to perform well for myself and the team.

“Regarding my contract, that’s the thing where Chelsea must deal with my agent. I don’t think there have been any new developments.

“We have so many games at the moment, and I prefer to focus on the team’s games, my own performances, and there will be time enough towards the end of the season to have talks.”

Victory over Qarabag, who Chelsea thrashed 6-0 at Stamford Bridge in September, would guarantee a place in the knockout stages for Antonio Conte’s side and remove the pressure from their final group game, at home against Atlético.

But the build-up here has instead been dominated by Conte’s fury over fixture scheduling that means his side will have to play Liverpool on Saturday, less than three days after this 2,470 mile trip to Azerbaijan.

Conte complained about Chelsea’s “abnormal” fixture list after Saturday’s 4-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion, and has now gone further by asking for more “respect” to be shown to his side.

“Liverpool are playing tonight and we have to play tomorrow against Qarabag, a long trip,” Conte said. “It will be very difficult for us to recover, to rest. Whoever prepared the fixtures for the league must pay great attention. Otherwise it is very difficult when you ask me if my team are ready to catch Manchester City if they put us in this type of situation.

“I don’t like to find excuses, but this is the reality. Sometimes I think it’s right to give respect for our job.”

Chelsea faced a similar situation earlier this season when they lost to a Manchester City side that had one more day to recover from European fixtures.

“This isn’t the first time,” Conte said. “If we’d won the game [against City] it [the gap between the teams] was only three points. If we’d drawn, it was six points. Now it’s nine points. Now another big game against Liverpool.”

An English team has not reached the Champions League final since 2012, when Chelsea won the competition, and Conte added that the fixture scheduling plays its part in the European struggles of Premier League sides.

“England needs to try to understand this and change something,” he said.