Chelsea make swift move to tie Thibaut Courtois to new deal and ward off Real Madrid

Thibaut Courtois
Chelsea want to tie Thibaut Courtois down to a new contract Credit: Carl Recine/Action Images

Chelsea have moved quickly to try to head off Real Madrid's interest in Thibaut Courtois by opening talks over a new contract for their goalkeeper.

Now that the Premier League title is theirs, Chelsea are working on plans for next season and have held discussions regarding the futures of Courtois and Hazard, who have both been linked with Real.

Chelsea also face the prospect of having to break two world records to land their primary transfer targets, Everton striker Romelu Lukaku and Southampton central defender Virgil van Dijk.

Telegraph Sport revealed on Sunday that informal talks between Chelsea and Hazard took place last week and it is understood there has also been a meeting between the club and Courtois' advisers aimed at negotiating a new contract.

Courtois currently has a contract that runs to 2019 but, with Real in the market for a new goalkeeper and also chasing Manchester United’s David de Gea, Chelsea want to secure his long-term future.

The Belgium goalkeeper currently earns £100,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge, which is around half of what De Gea is paid by United and the Spaniard is likely to be given a rise if he joins Real.

Chelsea will, therefore, need to pay Courtois well over £150,000-a-week to tie him down to a new deal and the 25-year-old may want to be sure of Real’s intentions before committing himself.

Sources in Spain currently believe Real are more likely to sign De Gea than Courtois and Chelsea are more hopeful of holding on to their goalkeeper.

Hazard has been told that he can achieve all of his ambitions with Chelsea. They are willing to pay him £300,000-a-week to sign a new contract and insist he will not be sold this summer.

The 26-year-old provided an encouraging signal by giving an interview in which he said he could win the Ballon d’Or at Chelsea, although, like Courtois, he may want to find out exactly what Real are planning before signing a new contract with Chelsea.

Lukaku is hoping to rejoin Chelsea in time to go on the pre-season tour to China and Singapore in July, but the club will have to pay £90 million to make sure the transfer does not drag through the summer.

Everton have publicly valued Lukaku at £100m, but a bid of £90m, which would exceed the world record £89m United paid for Paul Pogba last season, should be enough to re-sign the centre-forward without protracted negotiations.

Southampton have claimed they do not need to sell Van Dijk, who is believed to favour a move to Chelsea, but talks have taken place in private about getting a fee in excess of the £50m Paris Saint-Germain paid for David Luiz in 2014 which remains the world record for a defender.

Asmir Begovic
While Chelsea fight to keep Courtois, they will not block back-up Asmir Begovic's move to Bournemouth again Credit: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Van Dijk is Chelsea’s top central defensive target, ahead of Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte who turned down a move to Manchester City 12 months ago.

Chelsea have plenty of players they could offer to both Everton and Southampton, on loan and permanently, to try to help clinch deals for Lukaku and Van Dijk.

Midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek will request to go out on loan, while striker Tammy Abraham will once again be loaned out for the season. Kurt Zouma and Ola Aina are also available, while Michy Batshuayi could also be loaned or sold.

Reports in Italy claim Zouma has attracted the interest of Internazionale, who have also targeted Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte for their vacant managerial position.

Chelsea will make Conte an offer to become the highest-paid manager in the club’s history with a new contract worth about £9.5m-a-year plus bonuses to fight off Inter.

While Chelsea battle to keep Conte, Hazard and Courtois, the club are not expected to stand in the way of Asmir Begovic’s proposed move to Bournemouth for a second time.

Chelsea blocked the transfer in January after failing to find a new back-up goalkeeper, but Bournemouth have indicated they will make a fresh offer once the season has finished.

Bournemouth hope to tie up a deal for Begovic within a fortnight of the season ending and will also make a bid in the region of £20m for defender Nathan Ake, who spent the first half of the season on loan there.

Chelsea want to keep Ake as one of their options for the three central defensive positions, but the 22-year-old wants to play more regular first-team football and could request to leave Stamford Bridge.

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