Though it was more than eight months before he made his competitive Chelsea début, Branislav Ivanovic showed that he was more than worth the wait. Signed in January 2008 by Avram Grant after a series of consistent performances at Lokomotiv Moscow, Ivanovic has become an integral part of the current Chelsea set-up.
A regular at international level for Serbia, where he plays alongside Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic, Ivanovic won the 2007 Russian Cup with his former side Lokomotiv, prompting overseas attention. AC Milan challenged the Blues for the Serb's signature, but he eventually chose to join the West London outfit.
After the Chelsea medical team decided that Ivanovic lacked the required match fitness to play Premier League football, he was left to improve on his physical condition and did not feature for the first team until September 2008, where Luiz Felipe Scolari played him at right-back against Portsmouth in the Carling Cup. Chelsea won 4-0 and Ivanovic was credited with an assist. He played a further eight games under Scolari as he vied with Jose Bosingwa and Alex for a place in the team.
With the arrival of Guus Hiddink, Ivanovic's Chelsea career was re-ignited, starting a match away at Newcastle which the Blues ultimately won 2-0. Ivanovic maintained his place in the team for the crucial UEFA Champions League ties with Liverpool, and famously scored twice at Anfield to ensure Chelsea won 3-1, eventually winning the tie 7-5 on aggregate.
In 2009/10, Ivanovic benefited from a season-ending injury suffered by Bosingwa and so did the team. With many expecting the Blues' formidable defence to be compromised, Ivanovic stepped in and performed admirably earning himself a place in the Premier League team of the season and adding a third goal to his Chelsea goalscoring tally; the third goal in a 4-0 thrashing of Bolton.
Ivanovic featured in the Blues' 8-0 win over Wigan, supplying the cross for Nicolas Anelka's sumptuous volley, and also played the full 90 minutes of the FA Cup final as he aided Chelsea to an historic, unprecedented League and Cup double.
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