(Reuters) – A new attempt to break the impasse between Belgian coach Domenico Tedesco and Thibaut Courtois has been made, but there is a deadline for the Real Madrid goalkeeper’s return to the team, Tedesco said on Wednesday.

Courtois has not played for Belgium since June last year, when he fell out with the coach after not being named captain for a European Championship qualifier in Estonia.

In August, Courtois, 32, who won 102 caps, confirmed that he would no longer play for Belgium as long as Tedesco was coach, but the new Belgian Football Federation chief executive, Peter Willems, s went to Madrid to try to convince him. to reconsider.

“He informed me about it a few weeks ago, so I was aware (of the talks),” Tedesco told a news conference on the eve of the Nations League clash with Italy in Brussels.

“He (Willems) asked me: what do you think? For me, first of all, of course he has all the rights to do it as CEO. And secondly, I always was and still am completely open to it. I think that on this subject, everything has been discussed.

Willems told local reporters Tuesday that Tedesco was “absolutely the right person in the right place” but was eager to resolve the Courtois problem.

In a statement on social media in August, Courtois said: “Unfortunately, following the events with the coach and after careful consideration, I have decided not to return to the Belgian national team under his leadership.”

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; editing by Ed Osmond)

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