Courtois denies El Pais reports, considers legal action

Thibaut Courtois addressed and shut down a recent report from El Pais, which included an alleged false quote that had him stunned at rumors of Conte or Mourinho potentially managing Madrid (pun intended). The quote overheard in the locker room was reported as followed:

“I can’t believe it. I’m the only one here who has worked with Conte and Mourinho. I left London so as not to go through something like that again and now it turns out that Conte is coming, and, if not him, Mourinho.”

Well, Courtois has since come out on Twitter to refute the claims and quotes including in the report.

“I want to categorically deny the information published today in the @elpais_deportes reference to my person. It includes lies that harm me as a professional and I expect a rectification by meditating to take legal action.”

If Courtois really didn’t say this and El Pais made this up, this strikes a major blow to their credibility and their wallet if Courtois does pursue a lawsuit against them. This is like number one in the journalism handbook, don’t ever make things up.

We’ll have to follow what transpires from this and whether Courtois decides to take legal action against them.

Pochettino denies knowledge of Real Madrid links

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was reportedly recently asked about if he’s heard recent rumors swirling his potential tapping up as a replacement for Julen Lopetegui. His response:

“Because I’m in a different country my English is not so good and I don’t follow the media too much.”

“It’s compulsory to know before coming here and in two minutes it’s explained to me what’s happening and I’m always surprised.”

“I don’t have social media, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, nothing. I don’t receive information. That’s why my head, my face, looks younger than I really am.”

“These things happen in football. You cannot change anything. It’s normal in this business.”

It would be no surprise if Pochettino has no clue he’s been linked to Real other than what he’s been asked in press conferences and interviews. I’d be surprised if he was constantly on his phone looking at rumors on Twitter, which he obviously addresses not even having.

If there were one manager that would be a better choice than Conte or Mourinho, it’d be Pochettino. It’s probably though unlikely since he just signed a new contract with Tottenham, these likely stay rumors.

Ter Stegen says he doesn’t focus on one Real player

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was interviewed recently by Club Del Deportista, where he addressed Real Madrid’s quality without Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I do not focus on a single player, Madrid have very good players with a lot of individual quality.”

“It’s true Cristiano scored many goals and was a very important player for Real Madrid, so of course you will notice his departure from the club. We will see how it gets solved in the future.”

Ter Stegen has followed his manager Ernesto Valverde in recently complimenting the quality of Real Madrid. Obviously, Barcelona are going to be asked questions about their opposition prior to Sunday’s El Clásico.

It’s always nice to see a rival club player give some praise towards the quality of your side, considering Sunday the compliments are left aside and the rivalry on the pitch takes full force.