Courtois was owned by Chelsea at the time but was emerging from an impressive three-year spell at Atlético Madrid.
It’s not true that Courtois had a deal to join Barca
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has made it clear that he never had an agreement to join Barcelona, thereby denying former Blaugrana director Javier Bordas’s claims that the deal almost happened in 2014. Courtois was owned by Chelsea at the time but was emerging from an impressive three-year spell at Atlético Madrid. “It’s not true that I had an agreement,” Courtois said during a press conference in Belgium ahead of their UEFA Nations League clash against Denmark. “I was at Chelsea, played for Atlético on loan, knew I would return to Chelsea and want to play there. I don’t know why that has been said, but it is not true.”
In comments made by Bordas in an interview, he said that he recommended Courtois as a target option, but that Barcelona’s leaders chose Marc-André ter Stegen. “I don’t think I should comment on things that people say in the newspapers and things like that,” Courtois replied. “I think everybody knows that my dream has always been to play for Real Madrid and that I’m happy there”. During the same press conference, The goalkeeper admitted that as a child he watched the legendary goalkeeper of the Denmark national team Peter Schmeichel, but that he was not one of his idols. “I remember him, but my idols were Edwin van der Sar and Iker Casillas,” said the 28-year-old.