I want Kovacic to stay: Julen Lopetegui

Amidst the reports of Croatian footballer Mateo Kovacic mulling a transfer to the English football club Chelsea, Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui said that he is keen to retain the player as he is crucial for the team.

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," goal.com quoted Lopetegui, as saying.

"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 [plays] a very important position and he's a very important player,' he added.

Meanwhile, Lopetegui quashed the reports of Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois joining the club saying that the team is content with their current goalkeeper Keylor Navas.