Zinedine Zidane Ready To Sell Thibaut Courtois After Just One Season

The first major casualty of Zinedine Zidane returning to be Real Madrid manager looks likely to be goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with the Frenchman wanting to make Keylor Navas his number one.

Keylor Navas is a very good goalkeeper but the powers that be at Real Madrid have never been too keen on him being their number one goalkeeper and tried to replace him a number of times.

The Costa Rican was famously waiting at the airport to move to Manchester United as part of the deal that would have taken David de Gea to Real, before the fax machine ruined that.

He spent several seasons as the number one at the Bernabeu before again Florentino Perez wanted to sign someone to replace him. The club president wanted Kepa but Zinedine Zidane wanted Navas so it never happened.

When Zidane stepped down at the end of last season Perez decided to sign Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea for just £35 million but his first season has been strewn with mistakes.

Now that the Frenchman is back in charge of Los Blancos he wants Navas as his number one again and according to Spanish outlet Libertad Digital he is ready to sell Courtois.

Courtois looks set to be sold this summer. Image: PA Images

News that Courtois will be sold might normally put Manchester United on alert that it means Real would come for David de Gea but Zidane's choice as number one is Navas.

The Belgian has only kept 10 clean sheets in 32 games this season and Navas has played 16 times but the new manager suggested there'd be far less rotation between goalies next season, saying, "I assure you that next year there will be no debate about the goalkeeper. I tell you that now. It's going to be pretty clear."

Navas is back in between the sticks for Real. Image: PA Images

It remains to be seen who will be in the market for the former Atletico Madrid keeper but it is less than a year ago since he won the Golden Glove award at the World Cup.

Courtois' departure is likely to be the start of a big overhaul at Real after a season where they've been way off the pace in the league and knocked out of the Champions League last 16.

Who will they sign in the summer?

Topics: Football News, Chelsea, Transfer stories, Transfer rumours, Premier League, Zinedine Zidane, Transfer news, Thibaut Courtois, Spanish football, Real Madrid, La Liga

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

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