Madrid have a second option if bid to lure Courtois fails
Real Madrid are expected to launch a bid to bring the Chelsea keeper to the Bernabéu this summer but they have an alternative plan if the operations falls through.
Courtois on Madrid's agenda
Real Madrid's interest in Thibaut Courtois is nothing new. The Belgian keeper knows the Spanish capital well, and his wife and daughter still live here. But if last summer he wasn't happy with life in London, amongst other things because of his relationship with the Chelsea's former goalkeeping coach, Christophe Lollichon, now things are looking very different.
Antonio Conte brought in Gianluca Spinelli as part of his overhaul of the backroom staff in July and that produced a positive effect on Courtois who is back at his best. And more importantly, Chelsea are runaway leaders in the Premier League and it looks highly likely that the club will offer the keeper a sustantial pay rise to convince him to stay. Those factors complicate Madrid's plans, but if they cannot lure Courtois, they will make a play for the keeper at the side which sits second in the league standings, Tottenham.
New contract
Like Courtois, Hugo Lloris has been on Real Madrid's agenda in the past and now he is one of the players who is performing the best under Mauricio Pochettino (he has kept 11 clean sheets in 27 games between the Premier League and Champions League). Lloris signed a new deal with Spurs in December last year, amplifying his contract until 2022 and boosting his monthly pay packet to 400,000 pounds; Real Madrid would be willing to double Lloris' salary to bring him to Spain. He would occupy Keylor Navas' place, and go from earning six million euros per year to 12 million.