Chelsea have been angered by the claims of Thibaut Courtois that director Marina Granovskaia reneged on promises over his future ahead of the goalkeeper’s controversial move to Real Madrid.

As first revealed by Telegraph Sport in August, Courtois went AWOL and refused to return to pre-season training with Chelsea to force through his £35 million switch to Real.

It has emerged that he first demanded a transfer last March, despite publicly announcing in the same month that he was committed to Chelsea and would continue to do his best.

Chelsea even considered allowing Courtois to run down the final 12 months of his contract, but he reacted to the possibility by effectively going on strike – despite also suggesting on the record that he was prepared to respect his deal.

Courtois tried to justify his actions at the weekend by claiming Granovskaia attempted to back out of a pre-World Cup agreement that he could leave Stamford Bridge.