Branislav Ivanovic is expecting one of the toughest seasons in the Premier League history ahead of the 2016-17 campaign.

Raft of new signings at almost every top club coupled with top managers like Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte, Jurgen Klopp, and José Mourinho starting their new campaigns with their new clubs is expected to make competition intense. Ivanovic had a very poor 2015-16 campaign, but he seemed to recover from the problems towards the end of the campaign. His positivity was displayed during pre-season and he is expected to be amongst the first team regulars chosen by Conte.

One of the big talking points about the new season is the recovery of Chelsea, who had one of their worst ever campaigns in the last few decades. After having been champions during the 2014-15 season, the club could only manage 10th place last campaign. Recovering from this massive setback will take a lot of effort and Ivanovic is not ready to speak about the objectives of the season just yet. However, he has confirmed that Conte has brought a lot of positivity and togetherness to the squad. They have set a target of performing well in each game and taking it from there. After suffering a dislocated shoulder during pre-season, Ivanovic is a doubt for the opening game against West Ham.

“I think at the moment it is very dangerous to say anything about the future because we know how difficult the league is.We have promised to ourselves to give everything in every game with this passion and style we can improve and we will improve. How far can we go? I think we have to go step by step. This could definitely be the toughest Premier League ever. Every team is strengthening and every team, after last season when Leicester won, want to be better and be the new surprise,” said Ivanovic.