Marco Amelia: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho confirms signing to cover Thibaut Courtois may be imminent

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that the Blues are considering the signing of free-agent goalkeeper Marco Amelia to fill the gap left by the injury of Thibaut Courtois. The Portuguese boss, nevertheless, has confirmed that the veteran Italian keeper is currently training at Cobham with the rest of the squad and that the club will make an imminently decision on whether to secure his services to back up Asmir Begovic until Courtois returns to action on December.

The Times broke the news earlier this week after revealing that the Blues have given a trial to the former AC Milan keeper due to fears that an injury or suspension to Begovic would derail their campaign. The Portuguese boss signed Begovic from Stoke City during the summer as his number two to replace Petr Cech and also has academy star Jamal Blackman as third choice.

But with the 21-year-old Blackman yet to play a Premier League game for Chelsea, Mourinho has confirmed he is likely to sign a more experienced keeper and Amelia is on the cards having played for AC Milan, Palermo and Livorno and also being part of Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning squad.

"He is an experienced goalkeeper," said Mourinho. "He knows what a big club is, he knows the responsibility. He has played in the Champions League and for his national team, but he hasn't played so much in the last couple of years.

"He has not been training with a team for a few months, but what we need is some cover and some stability until Courtois is back. Maybe he is the guy to give us that because it must be a goalkeeper without a club or a contract. We were analysing and with what we had in our hands, we found that Marco could be a good possibility for us. Let's see in the next couple of days what we decide."

Meanwhile, Mourinho claims that Courtois is recovering well from his knee operation but he is not expected to return to action before December.

"Courtois recovering well but cannot fight the time," he said. "December for him. First week, second, third, we don't know but December for him."

The Belgium international and suspended Diego Costa are the only absences for Chelsea's Premier League game against Southampton on Saturday 3 October.