Friday was certainly a day for Premier League managers of big clubs saying that they are not involved in contract extension talks for star players with uncertain futures. Friday is always manager weekly news conference day, and when Chelsea boss Antonio Conte met the media today (video here), the status of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois came up.
Conte said that contract extension negotiations are a matter for the club, not for him. It all sounded quite similar to Jose Mourinho at Manchester United (video at this link) when he was discussing the Marouane Fellaini situation.
Mourinho made a similar remark, saying that situation was for the board to deal with.
Courtois, who’s deal with Chelsea keeps him at Stamford Bridge until June 2019, said in midweek that he’s happy to postpone contract extension talks until later in the season. With Real Madrid being very strong public admirers of the Belgian, Conte says he won’t discuss this situation in the media.
“I must be honest,” the Italian said of Courtois and his future.
“I think this question is for the club, not for me. I like to also give my opinion about technical decisions (internally) but it is also important for the club to face this issue, this contract with Courtois.”
“I can tell you he is one of the best, maybe the best goalkeeper in the world and he is a very important player for Chelsea, but the renewal of the contract is a task for the club.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.