Chelsea boss Antonio Conte willing to let Thibaut Courtois join Real Madrid… but here’s the reason the Belgian MUST stay
Blues chief happy to see his No1 join the La Liga giants, but he currently has the most clean sheets of any stopper in Europe
ANTONIO CONTE is weighing up whether or not to allow Thibaut Courtois to leave Chelsea in order to join Real Madrid.
The Italian chief is hoping to sanction a part-swap deal which would see Alvaro Morata join the Blues.
However, no matter how good the Spanish forward is, there is one key reason allowing Courtois to leave the club would be a big mistake.
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That is simply the fact that the big Belgian is the best goalkeeper in Europe, right now.
The 6ft 6in No1 has racked up far more clean sheets than any other stopper in any of the "Big Five" leagues - the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
Chelsea man Courtois has a phenomenal 13 shut-outs to his name - which is three more than Marseille's Yohann Pele and Empoli man Lukasz Skorupski, on loan from Roma.
Current Roma No1 Wojciech Szczesny - on loan himself from Arsenal - has nine in the Italian top flight, while Danijel Subasic of Monaco is also one shy of double figures.
The Premier League's next best stopper is Tottenham ace Hugo Lloris on eight, level with Southampton and England man Fraser Forster.
Meanwhile, a host of other European giants have eight clean sheets to their name - including Bayern Munich ace Manuel Neuer and Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Elsewhere, Manchester City will be ruing their decision to plump for shot-scared Claudio Bravo over fellow summer-buy Geronimo Rulli.
After loaning out the 24-year-old to Real Sociedad immediately after buying him, Pep Guardiola and Co allowed him to join the La Liga side permanently, and he's racked up eight clean sheets.
Bravo on the other hand? Just four this season, while shipping 28 goals in 22 games.
Also on the list of Europe's top stoppers are Lyon's Anthony Lopes and Villarreal No1 Sergio Asenjo.
But with Chelsea's Courtois topping the list, will Conte reconsider selling his star name?