Paper Round: Courtois wants to leave Chelsea Liverpool to resurrect £60m Nabil Fekir deal

Liverpool to reopen talks for Nabil Fekir, Chelsea make plans for life without Thibaut Courtois, though their players are in the dark over who will manage them.

Liverpool resume Fekir talks 

Liverpool’s move for Nabil Fekir looked to have collapsed after negotiations stopped when Liverpool were unwilling to match the £60m valuation for the 24-year-old playmaker. The previous talks had gone so far that Liverpool had even filmed an unveiling interview with Fekir, ready for the transfer announcement. Jurgen Klopp’s club intend to resurrect discussions in order to find a compromise agreement. 

Courtois wants to leave Chelsea 

Thibaut Courtois has announced that he is willing to leave Chelsea, but he has his heart set on his ‘preferred choice.’ That would be to join Real Madrid. He says he has not seen his children in 18 months since they and their mother moved back to Madrid, so he would like to go back to the city to be closer to them. With only 12 months left of his contract, he would be able to leave relatively easily, but Real may prefer Roma’s Alisson. 

Chelsea eye Courtois replacement 

Chelsea are making plans for life without Courtois after his announcement. While Real are reportedly interested in Alisson, along with Liverpool, neither club has made progress given Roma are asking £65m for the player. However, Chelsea will ask for £50m for Courtois from Real, meaning they would need to find only an additional £15m to complete the deal. They have also considered a move for Stoke City’s Jack Butland, who is expected to depart. 

Chelsea players in the dark over manager

Chelsea players are unsure who will take their first training session of the season, and do not know if current boss Antonio Conte has even prepared for it. Conte is demanding that he be paid off his final £9.5m salary in full, something the club is not yet willing to do. Further to that, Maurizio Sarri is still contracted to Napoli, and no deal for his release has been completed, so it is believed a £4.5m compensation package has been agreed.

Eurosport