Chelsea are concerned that Thibaut Courtois’s family situation might cause him to reject a new contract, even if they agree to meet his wage demands.
The Belgium goalkeeper has 18 months on his deal left to run and revealed last month that talks over an extension will not resume until near the end of the season.
Courtois, who is on £100,000 a week, rejected the club’s opening offer in May because it was below the £200,000 weekly wage he wanted.
Chelsea are still considering whether to agree to the 25-year-old’s request, which will see him paid the same as Manchester United counterpart David de Gea. But Standard Sport understands the club might not be able to convince him to sign anyway.
While Courtois is committed and enjoys playing for Chelsea, he has two young children who live in Madrid.
Courtois met their mother, Marta Dominguez, while on loan at Atletico Madrid in 2013 but they separated in April and she resides with their son and daughter in the Spanish capital.
The keeper does not get to see his children as much as he would like to because of the busy football season with Chelsea, and that is becoming an issue for him.
Real Madrid have had Courtois on their wishlist since Jose Mourinho was their manager between 2010-13 and are monitoring his situation at Chelsea. They made an enquiry for him in 2015, only to be put off when Chelsea put a £73million valuation on his head.
Chelsea will struggle to command such a fee should they fail to get Courtois to sign a new deal before the summer transfer window opens.
Courtois is a key figure at Chelsea and has not let issues with his private life negatively affect his football.
He has won two League titles with the club in the last three seasons and it is believed captain Gary Cahill relies on the Belgian’s multi-lingual skills to help maintain good communication and a strong bond among all the players in the dressing room.
Coach Antonio Conte wants the board to agree terms with Courtois and Eden Hazard, whose contract expires in 2020, before next summer’s World Cup. He said: “I hope that at the end of the season Thibaut and Eden will sign a contract. But it is the responsibility of the club to try to do this.
“They are great players, especially because they have space for improvement. They are young and it would be great to keep them with us.”
Meanwhile, Conte fears that finishing top of their Champions League group will not give Chelsea an easier game in the last 16.
Chelsea face Atletico Madrid in their final Champions League group game at home tomorrow, knowing a victory will guarantee first place in Group C ahead of Roma.
While the Blues will avoid Paris St Germain and Barcelona if they progress as group winners, Conte knows there is a strong chance they will still be paired with one of the other favourites in the draw next week.
He told Standard Sport: “We want to reach the first position in our group. But even if Chelsea finish first, we risk getting Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Juventus. So it doesn’t change a lot if we finish first or second.
“The most important thing is we are going through. But for our ambition it would be right to win and arrive first. This game is important, we have to play good to improve confidence.”
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