Thibaut Courtois is confident his refusal to return to Chelsea will be rewarded with a move to Real Madrid after the goalkeeper extended his absence into a second day.

And his hopes of a transfer being concluded have been boosted by the possibility of a deal being sweetened by Real midfielder Mateo Kovacic being allowed to move in the opposite direction on loan.

As exclusively revealed by Telegraph Sport, Courtois attempted to force through his move to Real Madrid by going AWOL on Monday and the Belgian also failed to appear on Tuesday.

Chelsea have contacted Courtois to request that he returns on Wednesday to explain his absence, but, so far, there has been no indication that he plans to do so.

Sources expect Courtois to fail to report once again as he waits to find out whether or not Chelsea accept Real’s £35million offer.

Real are prepared to allow wantaway Kovacic, who himself skipped a training session with the Spanish club, to join Chelsea on a season-long loan on the proviso they get Courtois.

Pick a Telegraph Fantasy Football team now for the chance to win a share of more than £100,000 >>