Chelsea tell Cech to find new club as Courtois is made No.1

Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco have all been monitoring the situation as Jose Mourinho tells the 32-year-old that he can leave after a decade at Stamford Bridge

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | UK Correspondent

Chelsea will tell Petr Cech to find a new club in the final weeks of the transfer window after deciding to make Thibaut Courtois their No.1 this season.

Jose Mourinho is to put his faith in Courtois at the start of the campaign, spelling the end for Cech at Stamford Bridge following a decade spent as the club's undisputed first choice.

Cech will be encouraged to move as Chelsea stand to receive a more significant transfer fee from selling the Czech goalkeeper now than in 12 months, when he would have just one year to run on his contract.

VIEW FROM SPAIN

By Sam Praise | Sportmasta Spain The goalkeeping situation at Real Madrid is extremely delicate and, while it is highly improbable than Petr Cech could be brought in, it is not impossible. Everything depends on Iker Casillas. If Madrid receive an offer of €20m this summer then they would surely let him leave but no approaches have yet been made. The only way that Casillas could leave this summer is if a big offer arrives or if he is prompted to forfeit any pay-off and agree to a mutual termination. That could potentially happen if Keylor Navas is made No.1. If he does leave then a move for Cech could be possible.

Courtois, who played 90 minutes in goal for the Blues in their final pre-season match on Tuesday night, will get the nod over Cech for Monday's Premier League curtain-raiser against newly promoted Burnley.

The west Londoners value Cech at around €12 million.

Real Madrid and wealthy French duo Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco are closely monitoring the 32-year-old's situation but no formal bids are expected until Cech's downgraded status is confirmed at the start of next week.

Madrid signed Costa Rica World Cup star Keylor Navas this summer as a replacement for Diego Lopez, who is completing the formalities of a move to AC Milan, but doubts persist about the long-term future at the club of Iker Casillas, who was used only in cup matches by boss Carlo Ancelotti last season.

Mourinho is prepared to offload Cech after deciding that rising star Courtois represents a better long-term option between the sticks.

Cech has insisted that he is not fazed by the prospect of competition from Courtois but Mourinho has told the goalkeeper to explore the possibility of a move away.

But the keeper's agent, Viktor Kolar, has already confirmed that he will speak to the top clubs in Europe if his client is made available.

"I would get in touch with [Andoni] Zubizarreta at Barcelona and people at Real Madrid," he told the press six weeks ago. "These are clubs we would consider if Chelsea wanted to get rid of Petr.

"We would also consider Bayern Munich but they have [Manuel] Neuer there. Then there are leagues Petr would not go to - Serie A, for instance, because clubs in that league have problems.

"Paris Saint-Germain have shown interest and we have also communicated with Monaco."

Courtois has been named La Liga's best goalkeeper in each of the last two seasons and his performances were key to Atletico Madrid's Primera Division triumph last season as well as their run to the Champions League final.

Mourinho's willingness to allow Cech, a hugely popular figure with supporters, to leave demonstrates his ruthlessness and desire to improve a team who narrowly missed out on winning a trophy in his first season back at Stamford Bridge.

Cech has established himself as one of the world's outstanding keepers during his decade at Stamford Bridge.

Since joining Chelsea from Rennes for €8.7m in 2004, he has made 479 appearances for the club and won the Champions League, the Europa League, three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and three League Cups.