Real Madrid start Alisson bidding war after Chelsea reject €40m for Courtois — reports

The intensity on the pitch at the World Cup is ramping up, and so is the intensity at the negotiating tables around the top clubs of Europe if various recent reports are to be believed. The agenda at hand for many is the identity of a starting goalkeeper, with protagonists like Napoli, Real Madrid, and perhaps Chelsea all involved on some level.

Take Napoli, for example, who need a new goalkeeper after Pepe Reina left on a free transfer. De Laurentiis, ever the talkative one, confirmed that he’s interested in several names, including Alex Meret, Alphonse Areaola, Federico Chiesa, and Keylor Navas, just to name a few, but none are all that close to happening at the moment. ADL claims they even submitted a €60m bid for Roma’s Alisson, but it was knocked back thanks to a bidding war.

Said war is mainly fueled by Real Madrid at the moment, whose initial offer €55m was rejected. They are expected to come back with €60m, but Roma continue to hold out for €80m. So claims Gianluca Di Marzio, who also reveals that Roma rejected a €50m approach from Liverpool (who have since moved on). There is no word of any rumors or otherwise about Chelsea bids, but GDM points to the Blues rejecting €40m for Courtois from Real as the catalyst for the Alisson bidding war.

Chelsea must be fairly confident in getting Courtois to sign a contract extension then, or at least get more value out of him despite just a year remaining on his contract.