Thibaut Courtois has once again hinted at a desire to swap Chelsea for Real Madrid, in a bid to be close to his family.
Courtois, 26, spent three years on loan across the city at Atletico, and his wife and young children still live there.
The Belgian keeper reached the World Cup quarter-finals with a dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Japan on Monday night, and after the game refused to commit to Chelsea while his country remain in the tournament.
Having previously told reporters his ‘heart’ is in Madrid, Courtois said post-match: “I love living in London. Madrid and London are great.
“The only thing is that my children live in Madrid, I would like them to be close.
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to come back, but for me they are very important and I’m going to do something to see them more.”
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He continued: “I’m not going to talk about that (his future) now. I just said that I’ll see everything after the World Cup.
“The most important thing is my children and I’ll decide what’s best for me in everything.”
Courtois, who has one year left on his Chelsea contract, echoed his statements from last week, when he said: “My children are the most important thing for me and I have had one-and-a-half years’ less contact with them.
“FaceTime is beautiful but seeing them grow up is something else. So my children will play an important role in my decision.”
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The Chelsea stopper has been linked to Champions League winners Real all summer, with the Spanish giants putting him top of their shortlist to replace Keylor Navas.
David de Gea is considered indispensable by Manchester United, but Roma’s Alisson and Atletico keeper Jan Oblak are also on Los Blancos’ radar.
Courtois has started all four of Belgium’s World Cup games so far, keeping a clean sheet against England as the Red Devils topped Group G with a 1-0 win in Kaliningrad.
Roberto Martinez’s side now face five-time winners Brazil on Friday for a place in the semi-finals.
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