UEFA Champions League 2014: Thibaut Courtois Could Miss Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea Semis Match
Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois could miss their upcoming UEFA Champions League semi-final showdown with Chelsea due to an earlier agreement between the two clubs.
Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo said that they will have to pay Chelsea around £4 million per game should they decide to play Courtois against the Blues as stipulated in their previous loan agreement.
Cerezo was non-committal when asked whether or not they will play Courtois against Chelsea, which was consistent to his previous statement, saying that they will opt to use Daniel Aranzubia instead of shedding a large sum of money to Chelsea.
"I do not know how many times I have to repeat this, Courtois is a Chelsea player loaned to Atletico Madrid this season," Cerezo told AS.
Cerezo also admitted that playing Courtois against his parent club could hurt their chances of striking another loan agreement this summer, but he quickly added that they are not ruling out Courtois for their semis match on April 22 and 30.
However, Cerezo said that Courtois will only play if they can reach an agreement with Chelsea. But if the Blues stay firm on their previous deal, Cerezo conceded that he has no other choice but to sit out the team's top goalkeeper.
"If we reach agreement with Chelsea he will play, because he is a Chelsea player and we are gentlemen and we deliver on what we sign," Cerezo said. "I am convinced that he will play because there will be an agreement between Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and the goalkeeper. And if in the end he does not play, then Aranzubia will do it."
UEFA recently issued a statement about the controversy on the Chelsea-Atletico deal, pointing that teams cannot prohibit another team from fielding loaned players. UEFA insisted that such clause is against the integrity of the competition.
"The integrity of sporting competition is a fundamental principle for UEFA," UEFA said in a statement. "Both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations contain clear provisions which strictly forbid any club to exert, or attempt to exert, any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may field in a match."