Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has revealed that he would have loved to have signed for Manchester United in the past.
The Belgian shot stopper is one of the best of his generation and has played for big clubs like Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and of course, Real Madrid.
The 32 year old has played 267 times for Los Blancos and won two Champions League titles.
The Belgian also won two Premier League titles during his spell in England with Chelsea.
Speaking to the Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel, Courtois revealed that his career path could have been very different had David de Gea not joined United in 2011.
The goalkeeper stated that he had two idols growing up in Belgium. “I loved Edwin van der Sar and [Iker] Casillas. So Casillas was because of his young age when he came into the goal at Madrid. At my age, I think I was like 12 or 11 at that time.”
“Like I was just starting to be a goalkeeper. It really also blew my mind. Like: ‘Wow, he’s in Real Madrid’. And I always followed those games.”
Due to his admiration for the Dutch legend, Courtois claimed that he also always kept an eye on how United were doing. He went on to state, “and then I followed always Manchester United for Edwin.”
This prompted Ferdinand to ask why the keeper had never joined United and he responded, “well, they signed David [de Gea], you know. So that helped me shape my path in a different way.”
The 32 year old explained that he was at a “crossroads” at Genk and while he would have loved to sign for United, their signing of De Gea closed that door early on and he decided to head to Chelsea.
He also revealed that he ignored the advances of fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.
With the Red Devils’ own goalkeeping woes with Andre Onana, there would be many fans who would happily see the Belgian between the sticks at Old Trafford, even though it is unlikely Ineos would pursue such a deal.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
