Keylor Navas Says He'll Leave Real Madrid This Summer If Zinedine Zidane Wants

Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas has said he wants to stay at the club but is prepared to leave this summer if manager Zinedine Zidane wants him to.

The Costa Rican has played in two of Zidane's three matches in charge this season, but he has just one year left on his deal at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Per Goal's Sacha Pisani, he said of his future:

"If the coach tells me to go, that's what I'm going to do. But I have a contract and my present is at Real Madrid.

"I will always try to give my best and convince the coach that I should play. I have a contract and I want to be here, but let's see what happens. Let's focus on finishing the season well.

"We have to, for the honour of the badge, go out and win the remaining [eight] matches."

Zidane hasn't said who he plans to make his first-choice stopper following his return to the club in March, but he said the goalkeeping situation will be clarified at the end of the season:

The Frenchman opted for Navas in his first match back in the dugout—a 2-0 win over Celta Vigo.

Given he won three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles with Navas between the sticks, it's perhaps no surprise he stuck with what he knew.

What's more, Thibaut Courtois' form immediately prior to his arrival left much to be desired:

Courtois has missed Real's two matches following the international break due to tendinitis. Zidane rested Navas for the 3-2 win over Huesca and played his son, Luca Zidane, instead, then the manager restored Navas to the lineup in Wednesday's 2-1 defeat at Valencia.

Zidane's status at the club perhaps gives him more leeway to drop Courtois—who signed a six-year deal upon his arrival from Chelsea last summer—than other managers might enjoy.

However, it makes more sense to stick with him than Nava for the long term.

Courtois, 26, is six years younger than Navas, and he is Real Madrid's most valuable player according to the International Centre for Sports Studies:

Navas will soon be in the final year of his deal at Real Madrid, so letting him go this summer would allow them to cash in on him before his contract expires.

If he stays for next season, the club will either have to hand him a new deal or risk losing him for nothing.