Courtois walked out of the Belgium camp in June 2023 following a row with previous coach Domenico Tedesco over the captaincy and subsequently refused to represent his country.

However, the Real Madrid shot-stopper said he was open to a return when Tedesco was sacked in January, and new boss Garcia has wasted no time in recalling him.

He could feature when Belgium face Ukraine in a two-legged promotion-relegation tie in the Nations League next week.

The first leg will take place on neutral ground in Murcia next Thursday, with the return fixture taking place in Genk three days later.

Asked on Friday if Courtois had been asked to apologise to his team-mates before returning, Garcia said: "We're starting with a blank slate. 

"I won't see the players until Monday, but we'll talk to the leaders again about what happened. 

"But after that, I'm not going to keep dwelling on what happened years ago. Otherwise, we won't make any progress." 

Garcia also refused to confirm the identity of his captain, only saying Courtois, along with Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne and Napoli striker Romelu Lukaku, was a candidate.