Madrid, August 8 (TNS): Croatian footballer Mateo Kovacic has been looking for a transfer to the English football club Chelsea, albeit Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui said on Wednesday that he is keen to retain the player as he is a key player in the squad.
The manager further stated that in case the midfielder decides to leave then the club would look out for “solutions.”
“There’s nothing 100 per cent certain yet. Mateo has said he wants to leave. I want him to stay – he’s an important player. We’ll see how everything ends up,” said Lopetegui.
“If he happens to leave, we’ll look for solutions,” he added.
Elaborating on the “solutions” he is talking about, the manager said that if Kovacic leaves then the club would find a top quality replacement.
“The solutions are something we’d speak about privately within the club. If Mateo does leave, a player of his level, which is extremely high, we’ll have to look for someone at that type of level,” he said.
“To reach all of our objectives we need to have a balanced team and he holds a very important position in our midfield,’ he added.
Meanwhile, Lopetegui dismissed the reports of Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois joining the club saying that the team is content with their current goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
