By Adam Mazrani
Thibaut Courtois has spoken of his preference to stay at Atletico Madrid for another season rather than return to parent-club Chelsea.
The young Belgian has been hugely impressive in his two seasons on-loan at the Vicente Calderon since moving to Stamford Bridge from Racing Genk in the summer of 2011, and has helped the Spanish side to victories in last season’s Europa League, as well as this year’s European Super Cup and latterly, the Copa Del Rey.
However, with Petr Cech looking as secure as ever in West London, the 21-year-old told reporters in the aftermath of the Copa victory over city rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu that with the World Cup on the horizon, he would rather spend another year in Spain as a first-team regular than take his place on the Chelsea bench.
“I want to stay,” he asserted.
“I’d rather play in La Liga than be a substitute in the Premier League.
“There’s a World Cup and I want to go. Here I will be able to play in the Champions League and there’s no better place to play than here. At Atletico I have progressed a lot.”
However, at this stage it is unclear whether Chelsea would be willing to sanction such a move, particularly with speculation still rife over who their future manager may be after the departure of interim boss Rafael Benitez.
