Branislav Ivanovic

Branislav Ivanovic | Serbia & Chelsea Superstar

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has refused to discuss the club’s prospects of challenging for the Premier League title this season. The Blues have got off to a flying start with eight wins and three draws from their opening 11 matches and the run of results sees them within two points off league leaders Manchester City.
Despite this, the Blues are only considered the third favourites for the title among the bookies and speaking to TalkSPORT, Sarri has admitted that the Blues may not have an easy path ahead to match the reigning champions, he said: “No! I thought that the first two months could be very difficult for me. I’m very lucky to work here the same as I did in Naples.

“I think in this period of the season, it’s very important for us to stay close to the top. We knew very well at the beginning that there was a gap – the gap between us and the top last season was 30 points and it’s very difficult to cover this gap in only six months. We’re trying to do it but we know it will be very difficult. I think this record [longest unbeaten record for a new PL manager] is not because of the coaching, it’s because of the team.”

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is under a lot of pressure to turn around a start to the campaign at the club, but there are widespread suggestions that he may be sacked in the next few weeks. However, it does not seem to hinder his plans to scout for new players who may be fit for featuring in the United red. It has been revealed that Mourinho will be making a trip in order to watch a game between Serbia and Montenegro in the UEFA Nations League.

Mourinho was able to breathe a sigh of relief after watching his United team get a 3-2 victory over Rafa Benitez’ Newcastle United at Old Trafford. Despite falling 2-0 down in the first half, United came up with a stunning comeback in the second half. It was a remarkable comeback that keeps Mourinho in the job at least for a few more weeks. The Portuguese has come under a lot of criticism for singling out players, defensive tactics, and being at war with the board for lack of support in the transfer market. Since the start of the campaign, it has been downhill for Manchester United who have also been playing like a team without confidence or creativity.

Lazio director Igli Tare has confirmed that the club are close to sorting out fresh contracts with Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. The duo were unquestionably the top performers for the club during the course of the 2017/18 season and Tare has indicated that an announcement over an extension could be made by the end of the month.

Speaking to reporters, Tare said: “It’s a matter of days for Immobile and Milinkovic-Savic’s contracts. The agreements have been there for a while and I think it’ll be finalised at the start of next week. It has been a difficult start to the Serie A season for Lazio, who scraped 1-0 wins over Frosinone and Empoli after losing to Napoli and Juventus. I agree that we’re in a position that we are not accustomed to being in, as we were always surprise outfits, whereas this year we declared that we wanted to be protagonists.”

Serbia international Aleksandar Mitrovic has made the permanent move to Fulham from Newcastle United. The 23-year-old spent the second half of the previous season on loan with the Cottagers where he was influential towards their promotion and he has now joined them for a club-record fee of around £22m.

“I’m very glad and happy and proud to finally be here and officially become a Fulham player. I’m happy to the moon and back. I have love for the fans. They’re amazing fans and I have a really good connection with them. This is a big club and last year we made history, we did big things, and I want to continue this. We want to keep making big things, and with all the fans behind us I think we can go far,” he told the club’s official website.

Fulham were able to complete the signing of Serbian forward Aleksandar Mitrovic from Newcastle United for a fee valued at around £ 22 million. The striker came up with a return of 12 goals in just 20 games for Fulham when he was on loan at the club last season. These goals are very crucial factor behind getting Fulham back into the top division through the play-offs. Since then, Fulham have been actively pursuing the signature of the 23-year-old striker, who played with former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic at the World Cup 2018.

He was brought to Newcastle for around £ 14.5 million in 2015 but he has failed to settle at the club.
There are suggestions that Fulham are taking a risk for a player who was able to come up with a strong return of goals only in the Championship without doing the same in the Premier League. However, Fulham are extremely confident in their new signing and the goals are crucial for the club if they are to survive in the top division. In the first half of 2017-18, Mitrovic was able to come up with five appearances but this was followed by a tremendous second-half with campaign. Newcastle have been actively looking at replacements forMitrovic in the last few weeks and they seem to have finalised on Yoshinori Muto from Mainz 05.

Fred spoke fondly about Manchester United teammate Nemanja Matic shortly after Brazil’s 2-0 win over Serbia at the group stage of the World Cup. Matic played the entire game for the Serbians who witnessed an exit from the global tournament but Fred nevertheless hailed the midfielder after he swapped shirts with him following the game.

In a report covered by ESPN, Fred said: “It was a nice chat with him, he welcomed me for coming to the great club that is Manchester. We exchanged shirts, too, he will be a great teammate.It's a big change, but I have not stopped yet ... It still hasn't set in, I'm very focused here on the World Cup.I do not think much about it, but it's a great club in Europe, it's one of the biggest, so I'm very happy for that.”

Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek believes England have a good chance of winning the summer World Cup with the ‘frightening talent’ within the group of players. The 22-year-old enjoyed a fruitful loan spell with Crystal Palace last term and he is now expected to play a key role for the Three Lions after being picked in Gareth Southgate’s squad.

Speaking to reporters, Loftus-Cheek admitted that the Three Lions have the capability to spring a surprise at this summer’s World Cup despite their average record at major tournaments of late, he said: “I think it would be stupid to rule us out. In training, you look about at the talent and it's frightening. I think we have a good chance. The squad is so young but so good at the same time. If we can deliver when it matters – and the boys can do that – we could have a really good tournament.”

Serbia international Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has said that he could become a future playmaker and compares himself to Yaya Toure than Zinedine Zidane. The Lazio midfielder has been compared with France great Zidane by several publications around Italy but the 23-year-old has revealed his preference to play at the heart of the midfield.

Speaking to FIFA.com, the Serbian said: "I see myself as more of a Yaya Toure. I think that I'm in a really good place right now. Pressure? I love pressure, it gets the best out of me. That's when I feel the best and give maximum on the pitch – those who know me can confirm that. "I am absolutely ready for Russia. If I need to earn the trust of the head coach [Mladen] Krstajic, I will do my best to justify that."

Former Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell is open to the idea of watching Mauricio Pochettino become the next head coach at Stamford Bridge. The Argentine has done a credible job in developing Tottenham Hotspur into a top-four side but his future at Spurs remains uncertain beyond the summer.

Recent reports have surprisingly linked Pochettino with a move to Chelsea, and Sidwell fancies the prospect of the 46-year-old managing the Blues, he told TalkSPORT: “There’s no smoke without fire so there’s probably an element of truth in there, and you look at it the other way where he [Pochettino] is looking for contract renewals - or maybe his agent has put the idea in there - to buck Spurs’ ideas up. But if it is true I’d welcome it with open arms. He’s been fantastic since he came to the country; what he did with Southampton was brilliant.”

Serbia have decided to strip Branislav Ivanovic from the captaincy ahead of the upcoming international friendlies against Morocco and Nigeria. Aleksandar Kolarov is now expected to lead the national side with Nemanja Matic appointed as the vice-captain. Speaking in a news conference, Serbian head coach Mladen Krstajić said: “Kolarov, the new captain, and (Nemanja) Matic, his deputy, have the power to follow in Ivanovic’s footsteps. We have made a decision which remains an internal matter but I want to make it clear there is no misunderstanding with Ivanovic who remains part of the team.”

The decision to strip Ivanovic from the leadership role does not come as a surprise, given the 34-year-old had shown the lack of pace during the World Cup qualification phase which was criticised by the fans and pundits alike.