Real Madrid Transfer News: Thibaut Courtois, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Rumours

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane will reportedly be given the green light to pursue Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer, signings that could top £130 million.

That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Joe Short of the Daily Express) who have claimed Los Blancos boss, formerly the most expensive player in history himself, will be bankrolled with big money ahead of next term. The aforementioned duo are said to be high up on his list of targets.

Courtois, it's suggested, could be subject to what would be a staggering £77 million bid from the Spanish giants. "Gazzetta claim Chelsea will move for Inter Milan goalkeeper Samir Handanovic if Courtois is sold and reinvest most of his transfer fee into signing new players in other positions," noted Short.

As relayed by HLN’s Kristof Terreur, the young goalkeeper has come a long way in such a short space of time, with six major trophies won in his career already:

After excelling during a loan spell with Atletico Madrid and then in his debut term with Chelsea, the most recent season was more difficult for Courtois. He was sent off on two occasions, missed a prolonged stint of the season due to an injury and, as expected, found it difficult to find his best form in a struggling side.

Real Madrid may well have been linked with the likes of the Chelsea stopper and Manchester United man David De Gea, per Adam Crafton of the MailOnline. But as they gear up for the final of the UEFA Champions League on Saturday, the tournament’s official Twitter feed reflected on just how good Keylor Navas has been this term:

Courtois has the potential to be special at his very best, though, able to command his area, pull off stunning saves and get the team moving with incisive distribution. Even so, a reported figure of £77 million seems extremely excessive, even for someone with the 24-year-old’s sky-high potential.

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By contrast, the fee mooted for Aubameyang of £53 million seems short of the valuation Dortmund would place on their on-fire forward.

The Gabon international striker ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to the Real Madrid blueprint as a quick, skilful and physical forward who can be devastating on the break. These are the kind of moments that would light up the Santiago Bernabeu on a regular basis:

That he’s added goals to his game over the last season and a half has been key to the striker blossoming into one of the best strikers in world football. Only Bayern Munich’s goalscorer extraordinaire Robert Lewandowski netted more in the German top flight in 2015-16; BVB’s star man got on the scoresheet 25 times in total.

While Manchester United are also noted as an interested party when it comes to the forward, per Short's report, German football pundit and former Norway international Jan Aage Fjortoft can’t foresee Dortmund letting their man go anywhere any time soon:

You wonder quite where Aubameyang would fit into this Real setup, too. In Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, they already have three of the finest attackers in world football. As well as the Dortmund star has done this season, he isn’t quite ready to oust one of those yet, and at 26 years old, he will not want to be playing a supporting role from the bench.

Of the trio, Benzema is arguably the man most likely to be shipped out, although—according to Mark Ogden of the Independent—while the Red Devils are to make the Frenchman their top summer target, Real are also said to be in talks to extend his contract. That would surely be a concern for Aubameyang, despite the allure a club such as Madrid would possess.