Branislav Ivanovic

Branislav Ivanovic | Serbia & Chelsea Superstar

Veteran West Brom defender Branislav Ivanovic is living on borrowed time at his club if the latest reports coming out of the UK media are anything to go by.

According to one of the aforementioned reports from Birmingham Mail, Branislav Ivanovic and two other veteran players will leave the Baggies when their contracts expire in the summer. Apart from former Chelsea player Ivanovic, Charlie Austin and Kamil Grosicki will also leave West Brom at the end of their contracts this summer.

The three players have not played much for the Baggies this season in their struggle to avoid relegation at the end of the first campaign back in the top flight of English club football. West Brom were second behind Leeds United at the end of the English Championship campaign for last season and that position earned them an automatic slot in the Premier League for this season.

With each passing day, at least one West Bromwich Albion fan would speak of how much dissatisfied they are about the club's decision to have signed former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

The Serbian right-back was signed by the Baggies last summer in what seemed to be a marquee signing for the club but things have not gone quite as planned a d it is looking increasingly likely that he will not be a West Brom player at the end of the current season according to multiple reports.

When Premier League outfit West Bromwich Albion secured the signing of former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic last summer, a lot of eyebrows were raised because a lot of people, including West Brom fans believed that they had secured the signing of a top defender.

Ivanovic joined the Baggies on a free transfer after he left Russian Premier League outfit Zenit St Petersberg following the expiration of his contract.

Slaven Bilic pounced on the opportunity to recruit the experienced defender and was both elated and glad to announce his signing when talking about the transfer to the Albion website.

West Brom defender Branislav Ivanovic won't forget the events that followed the Champions League semi-final second leg clash with Barcelona in 2012 in a hurry. Branislav Ivanovic was a Chelsea player and he had helped the Blues to qualify for the 2012 Champions League final at the expense of Spanish giants Barcelona.

Chelsea had won the first leg 1-0 at home before battling to a 2-2 draw away from home in the return leg at the Nou Camp. Branislav Ivanovic conceded a penalty during the second leg and was subsequently booked. That booking would prove to be costly for him.

Veteran defender Branisla vIvanovic is one of the best defensive players in the history of Premier League giants Chelsea over a period of the last two decades. BranislavIvanovic is still fondly remembered for his time at Chelsea despite leaving the club around four years ago when he was entering the final lap of his career as a footballer.

BranislavIvanovic spent nine years as a Chelsea player between 2008 and 2017 before he leftthe Stamford Bridge outfit on a free transfer. BranislavIvanovic left Chelsea to sign for reigning Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg on a free transfer. The Serbian international was at Zenit for the whole of the three-year deal that he signed when he left the Blues in 2017.

It's January and since the winter transfer window is open, there are bound to be rumours about players getting linked to clubs and clubs getting linked to players whether it's departures or arrivals. While clubs want some of their players whose contracts are nearing expiration to pen new contracts, there are some whom they are willing to push to the market for other clubs to pounce on.

One of those clubs who are expected to be very busy in the window is West Brom. The Baggies expected to let go of some players this January, with as many as up to four players expected to be a part of the pending exodus at the Hawthorns.

West Brom defender Branis lvIvanovic made his third appearance under new manager Sam Allardyce in the disappointing defeat at the hands of fellow newly promoted team Leeds United in their latest outing in the Premier League.

In the week 16 league clash played at the Hawthorns on Tuesday night, West Brom were thrashed 5-0 by Leeds United in what was the third league game under new manager Sam Allardyce. The former Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and England national team manager is the man tasked with the responsibility of saving West Brom from the drop.

Sam Allardyce was named the West Brom manager two weeks ago after the dismissal of former manager Slaven Bilic shortly after the Manchester City game which ended in a goalless draw.

West Bromwich Albion's decision to secure the signing of Brainslav Ivanovic proved to be a good move at first thought. This is because of the reputation the player built for himself while he was at Chelsea. He was a tough defender to face anytime any day and had the hunger and desire to chase the three points even at the death.

His Chelsea career was made better as he partnered with some elite defenders too, with the likes of John Terry helping him build his career as they formed a formidable partnership at the Chelsea defense.

However, he has not been able to show the stuff he is made of since signing for West Brom. The Baggies signed him during the summer in a bid to shore up their backline that was inconsistent and kept taking in goals.

New West Brom signing Branislav Ivanovic was an obvious absentee at the weekend as the Baggies suffered heartbreak during their league game with top four contenders Tottenham Hotspur. West Brom started the Spurs game at home as heavy underdogs and were so close to earning a point before Harry Kane broke their resolve.

The game was heading for a goalless draw until the England skipper popped up with the only goal of the game to hand three points to his team.

English Premier League is going to witness the comeback of Branislav Ivanovic as he is going to be the guard of West Brom's goal-post for this season. The former Chelsea campaigner has signed for West Brom United this year as the club has got promoted to the 2020-21 Premier League session. The Serbian defender appeared for the highest number of matches in his career for Chelsea of 261 and has put the ball into the net 22 times.

He was the faithful soldier of Zenit Saint Petersburg since 2017 and appeared in 90m matches for them. He not only has a wide experience of playing for the clubs but holds the record to appear for 105 times for Serbia.