Report: Chelsea to have one fewer club interested in Thibaut Courtois

Barcelona have long been rumoured as a potential home for the Chelsea-owned Atletico Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian is widely-considered, deservedly, to be one of, if not the, finest young keepers. Some would even argue with the inclusion of the word "young." Why would Chelsea be rumoured to sell him, if he's so good? Petr Cech, of course. The Czech has been Chelsea's No. 1 for a decade, and was a decisive factor in the club winning its first Champions League title.

While many have assumed that Courtois would eventually succeed Cech at Stamford Bridge, some have long that the Blues would simply cash in on the young talent. He would certainly command a huge profit over what they paid for him. If you're a fan of the succession of the Belgian, I have some good news for you. Spanish football newspaper Mundo Deportivo are reporting that Barcelona are getting out of the race for Courtois by going instead for German international Marc-André Ter Stegen, currently of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

For Chelsea, this probably doesn't really change anything. There's still a showdown looming for us this summer, with both keepers entering the penultimate year of their contracts, but this deal, should it be completed, would rule out not just one potential buyer to be linked with Courtois, but the most-popular one. That will hopefully help avoid  the papers printing enough articles on the subject this summer to destroy the Amazon.

[HT: Ollie Glanvill]