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With the long-term future of Thibaut Courtois uncertain at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have rekindled their interest in Stoke City’s Jack Butland as a potential replacement.
The 24-year old, who has 6 full caps for England, is currently out injured with a fractured finger, but is expected to return to first-team action shortly, with many tipping him to replace Joe Hart as England’s number one for the World Cup in Russia next year.
Chelsea have been linked with Butland in the past when he was playing for Birmingham City four years ago. However, at the stage he chose to sign for Stoke instead in a £3.5 million deal, as they offered him a faster route to Premier League football.
Now it looks like a move to West London could be beckoning again, although Chelsea can expect to pay more for Butland than the £30 million Everton paid Sunderland for his England squad compatriot, Jordan Pickford, in the summer.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.