Branislav Ivanovic

[.Cee 50]

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.

Click here to view the record

[SuperSheva7 0]

ahhh...a lefty im excited to see him play, vs. Wigan? either way it great that we've got him, i guess its time to get rid of Ben Haim.

oo i just realized he speaks Russian too! yay Sheva will have a new buddy LOL.

Edited January 16, 2008 by SuperSheva7

[Steve 10,227]

haha good new for sheva he will have a new mate on the team

cant wait to see him in action see what he can do

[chrismada9 1,948]

No pictures of Ivanovic with his shirt?

[.Cee 50]

Well, he hasn't played yet and there's no press conference so nope unless it's photoshopped

Edited January 20, 2008 by .Biru

[BlueLion. 21,491]

His shirts are on the Online Store.

http://www.chelseamegastore.com/stores/che...mp;intPID=44947

[SuperSheva7 0]

His shirts are on the Online Store.

http://www.chelseamegastore.com/stores/che...mp;intPID=44947

doesn't he have an accent over the C or something? that would be rude to leave it out.

[BahrainiBlue 32]

[Luke 60]

when is he actually going to make his debut??

shame we didnt sign him sooner in the transfer window, would have had time to get rid of that donkey tal ben hiam

[CFC-Lloydy 38]

Is he going to make his debut anytime soon?

I want to see him in action!

[Elliott 7]

We've got three right-backs at this club and we played Essien there...

[Badboy 1,526]

Oh my god i forgot about this guy.

[Gianfranco_Z 202]

Haha me too!

[chrismada9 1,948]

I assume he's had to train hard to get a place because he wasn't 100% fit when he joined us.

[Steve 10,227]

i think we should give the kid a run out by the end of the season if not here maybe in the champs league

[EskWeston 696]

i think we should give the kid a run out by the end of the season if not here maybe in the champs league

He was not put in the CL squad so he can't play in that!

I notice that he played last night for Serbia!!! So when are we going to see him play for us. The fact that Essien was deployed at Right back Sunday shows that position is still an issue so why are not giving him a chance to show what he can do?

[DavidEU 2,023]

What I don't understand is why we havent given him a run-out or two in the reserves.

He's been injured, and needs match fitness, and thats why Avram's probably worried about bringing him in at such a crucial stage of the season.

However, he played last night (according to Esk) so I'd like to see him either on the bench v Boro, or getting 90 mins in the reserves on Monday night.

[EskWeston 696]

He has aparently played in a couple of behind closed doors friendlies for us.

He came to us when his previous season had finished so was short of match fitness then have been told he picked up an injury. I read somewhere that he played last night (can't confirm at the moment, can't fins a site with the team news) so we would hopefully be expecting to see him sooner or later. We don't even know yet if he is going to be a right back or centre back...