AS Roma pass on potential Courtois-replacement Donnarumma — report

With Alisson Becker on his way to Liverpool for a world record (for a goalkeeper) £66m transfer fee, Chelsea have to start looking at Plans B, C, D, and all the other letters of all the other alphabets in order to successfully replace Thibaut Courtois.

Courtois looks set for Real Madrid, but that transfer won’t go through until Chelsea have a replacement, and while Courtois claims he’s willing to stay to see out his contract, that arrangement would not be too beneficial for Chelsea’s pocket books (nor our intention to make this season a bit less awkward than last).

Meanwhile, Roma need a new goalkeeper, too. They’ve been mainly linked with PSG’s Alphonse Areola (a World Cup-winner despite not being capped!), but have recently been offered Gianluigi Donnarumma by his agent Mino Raiola. Donnarumma has also been linked with Chelsea and PSG as well, so he’s certainly in the thick of things of this goalkeeper carousel, but according to SportItalia (via Inside Futbol) Roma have already passed on him. The reason given is that Roma apparently want to concentrate on the target(s) they have already identified (namely, Areola or Robin Olsen), though with Raiola involved, the price tag may be eyebrow-raising as well.

Still, that’s one less option removed for Gigio, who yet represent Chelsea’s best, most available option to replace Courtois — other options include the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Jack Butland, and possibly even Petr Čech as we close in on three weeks to go before the start of the season.