Madrid, April 2 (IANS) Atletico Madrid’s Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois Wednesday said he will make his future plans known in the next seven days.
Courtois made his declaration on Spanish TV network Canal Plus following his side’s 1-1 draw away to Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in which he produced a series of outstanding saves to keep the scores level, reports Xinhua.
“I will announce my decision next week. I am not going to say whether I will stay here or not,” said Courtois.
His performance in the Camp Nou Stadium again highlighted his importance to Atletico Madrid, where he is currently completing his third season on loan from English club Chelsea.
Chelsea coach, Jose Mourinho is thought to be reluctant to sell the 21-year-old, who has a contract with his club until 2016. However, Mourinho is currently unable to guarantee Courtois regular first team football due to the continued excellent form of Chelsea’s first choice goalkeeper, Petr Cech.
Recent weeks have seen increased speculation about Courtois’ future, with Real Madrid also rumoured to be interested if Chelsea were willing to sell.
Courtois has always said that if he decided to leave Chelsea he would prefer Atletico, where he has won the Europa League, the European Supercup and last season’s King’s Cup and it seems likely that the solution will probably see him sign a new contract with Chelsea, who will then loan him to Atletico for a further year.