Since Thibaut Courtois (and Chelsea) got Messi’d back in Barcelona a few weeks ago, the rumor mill had gone a bit quiet on the Chelsea goalkeeper. In a way, that was almost more concerning than the near-daily drone of links back to Madrid for him, so that he could be closer to his family and live in the country he adores.
Fortunately, here’s France’s RMC to get the ball rolling again.
But wait, what’s this?
Not Real Madrid?
PSG?!
Come on, Mohamed, you can do better than that! Do not make us knock you down a peg.
Info @RMCsport : Thibaut #Courtois intéressé par le #PSG https://t.co/0sEmB4oGH1
— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) April 12, 2018
RMC claim that Courtois is interested in the PSG “project”, whatever that means, but there is zero mention of his family, which is literally the only thing that’s been motivating the transfer rumors for the last two years.
More concerningly for PSG, there are recent rumors that UEFA will actually enforce FFP regulations, with the Financial Times reporting yesterday that European football’s governing body finally have seen the obvious cheating that’s going on with the Qatari-owned club vastly overstating their sponsorship incomes from Qatari sources and institutions, including the state-owned bank, television, and tourism authority.
PSG were fined a few years ago for similar transgressions; if they are found in violation again, would UEFA dare to actually do something more than a slap on the hand? Perhaps not, considering their shameful and inert “response” to other controversies like that racial abuse suffered by Rudiger and Batshuayi, just to name two Chelsea players, but PSG might still be concerned enough to not be all that willing to blow a record amount for a goalkeeper (which it would surely take) to prize Courtois away.
RMC do mention that PSG have denied any such interest when contacted and that a Chelsea source claimed that we’d rather let Courtois walk for free next summer than sell him now, but that clearly didn’t stop them from printing the rumor.
More pertinently, Courtois recently made it clear that while he’s happy enough in London, he wants clarity on his future, one way or another, before the start of the World Cup. Whether he stays, whether he goes, whether he goes next summer or signs a long-term contract (the most likely outcome), we should know fairly soon.