Chelsea star plan B in case Man United deal becomes too difficult, now a question of pride

That Florentino Pérez isn’t the biggest fan of Keylor Navas anymore isn’t that much of a secret anymore, nor is the fact the Real Madrid president would quite like to replace him with a marquee goalkeeper signing.

And when mistakes like the one against Napoli on Wednesday night that saw Lorenzo Insigne score a 30-yard first time shot happen, well, you can imagine it only strengthens the president’s opinion.

To no surprise, the two targets to replace Navas are the usual suspects: Manchester United’s David De Gea and Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois.

With the latter of the two rather open to a Stamford Bridge exit if the destination is Spain following great years at Atlético Madrid, you would think he would be the top target, but in Pérez’s eyes, the top man for the job remains De Gea, even after everything that happened during #faxgate.

And it appears that this information has been shared with journalists from Barcelona-based newspapers, considering both Sport and Mundo Deportivo are both running the story, with very similar facts.

While the pair are very pro-Barcelona, we doubt they contacted each other on Thursday to ensure they printed the same story on Friday, suggesting someone might have slipped something to them.

Pérez was keen to use Navas in a swap with Manchester United two years ago, but has never hidden an admiration for the Chelsea goalkeeper.

Of course, Florentino Pérez will have to convince either club to sell their stars, and with José Mourinho and Antonio Conte very likely reluctant to see their number one shot stoppers go, it might not be a very simple task.

That, and the fact Zinedine Zidane really likes Keylor Navas, and considering how well things are going under the Frenchman in the league and the Champions League, there’s a certain reluctance to start interfering with his protégé’s team.

Then again, as Mundo Deportivo say, Pérez’s pride was really hurt by Ed Woodward’s fax prank, and there’s every chance he might just throw the kitchen sink at De Gea just to prove a point.

It’s also worth pointing out that last week saw Marca run a big story about Real Madrid and De Gea, with the Spanish goalkeeper telling them that ‘nobody knows the future’.

Full story on Marca’s ‘Operación De Gea 2’ splash. Feels like guff, but there’s likely something behind it. #MUFChttps://t.co/lr5cSxrlRf

— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) February 9, 2017

This story is never going away, is it?