Thibaut Courtois has suggested that Chelsea will need to increase their contract offer to convince him to stay at Stamford Bridge after his impressive performances at the World Cup.
Having only just resolved their coaching situation with the appointment of Maurizio Sarri on Saturday, Chelsea face weeks of uncertainty over two of their key players as both Eden Hazard and Courtois are the subject of interest from Real Madrid.
Hazard admitted that “it might be time to discover something different” after six years at Stamford Bridge following Belgium’s 2-0 win over England in the World Cup third-place playoff, while Courtois has previously been open about his desire to be reunited with his two children in the Spanish capital.
Courtois has just one year left to run on his current contract, and Chelsea have reportedly offered him a long-term extension worth around £200,000-a-week — but the Belgian believes he has proven he is worth more with his form in Russia.
“I will go back and I will see what they want and how they say it,” he said, according to the Telegraph. “Obviously, with this World Cup, I think what was on the table is different than what I can have.
“In this World Cup, I have ignored all the speculation, all the rumours. But now, in the next few days, I will have a chat with my agent and see what Chelsea told him, and then we will talk. But I feel happy at Chelsea, it’s not that I necessarily want to leave.”
Chelsea hope that by replacing Antonio Conte with Sarri, who garnered praise from across the football world for the thrilling style of football he implemented in three years at Napoli, will help convince Hazard that he can fulfil his long-term ambitions at Stamford Bridge.
But with less than a month until the new Premier League season begins, Courtois warned that Chelsea’s new head coach may find it difficult to get his ideas across in a shortened preseason.
“The decision [to sack Conte] was made a few days ago, but I think as a group we expected that to happen earlier because we heard what the board said to us already after the season and then it took until now,” Courtois added.
“I don’t think it’s easy for a new manager to come in and shape us in a few weeks. I think fans need to understand we will need some time to adapt to the new manager and a different style.”
Courtois endured some difficult moments in an underwhelming season for Chelsea leading into the World Cup, but he feels he has shown his true quality on the biggest stage in Russia.
“The last one-and-a-half months at Chelsea, I performed at a high level and I felt I took this form with me and played a really good World Cup,” he insisted. “To call me the best in the world, I don’t know. Jordan Pickford made some good saves against Sweden and Colombia, and Hugo Lloris made against us a very good save, and also against Uruguay.
“I don’t think you can decide [who is the best] on the amount of saves, I think if you did, then I exceed everyone. But sometimes it’s just that one save that does it. The keepers I mentioned, [Danijel] Subasic as well, maybe all four were on a high level.”
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