Branislav Ivanovic

Branislav Ivanovic | Serbia & Chelsea Superstar

Branislav Ivanovic claims that Chelsea players are extremely lucky that owner Roman Abramovich only sacked manager José Mourinho.

The Portuguese was relieved from his duties after less than three years in charge of the club. Unlike in the last few campaigns, the club tried to resist making a change in the middle of the campaign. After witnessing Chelsea slip into a relegation fight towards the end of 2015, Abramovich had no other option but to change the management. After the arrival of Guus Hiddink, things have been much better at the club.

Chelsea and AS Roma are rumored to be having discussions with the possibility of having a swap deal where Branislav Ivanovic makes a move to the Italian club while Radja Nainggolan is believed to be making his way to the Premier League side Chelsea when the summer transfer window re-opens in a few months’ time.

Branislav Ivanovic’s future at Chelsea looked increasingly suspicious since the defender had only a few months left on his contract.

However, he has now signed a 12 month extension with the London outfit meaning that he will be at Stamford Bridge until the end of the 2016-17 season. Ivanovic has been a permanent fixture in Chelsea’s first team over the last few years. Few would have imagined his astronomical rise since joining the club in a £ 9 million deal from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2008. Ivanovic has already won every major title with the West London outfit and is now looking forward to another period of glory.

Arsene Wenger has spoken about the importance of defender Nacho Monreal, who has become an important part of the Arsenal first team in the last couple of years.

The Spaniard was a relatively unknown product when he came to the Emirates stadium for around £ 8 million from Spanish outfit Malaga. Given the intense competition for the left back and right back positions in the Arsenal team at the time,Monreal was not expected to be the first team regular. In fact, he made only 10 league appearances in his first season at the club. This has consistently improved over the years andMonreal has already made 20 appearances in the league this season.

Chelsea’s poor form recently cost striker Diego Costa his first-team spot.

The striker had been named on the bench for the last two matches and this is a major warning to the rest of the team according to defender Branislav Ivanovic. The Serbian remains as one of the few underperforming players to have never been on the bench this season. Ivanovic has missed a couple of matches this season but it has been only due to injury. Costa has not taken Jose Mourinho’s decision lightly, but the Portuguese manager has stated that almost every top player like Terry, Fabregas, and Eden Hazard has spent time on the bench.

Eden Hazard was one of the key performers for Chelsea the previous season. Not only did he net 14 goals himself, he influenced another 10 goals with assists and made sure Chelsea attained Premier League glory for the third time under the Portuguese talisman Jose Mourinho.

But, the same spark has not been there so far this summer as far as Hazard is concerned and that has rubbed off on Chelsea as a team.

The Blues, who had been dominant right from the start to the end in the Premier League 2014-15, are currently finding themselves at the 13th position in the points table with six defeats already to their name. Whilst they started off as favourites for the title, they are now at horse racing odds to even make the top four - drifting out as far as 50/1 on some exchanges.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has slammed the performances of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic following the club’s latest loss against Crystal Palace.

The blues have begun their title defence in very poor fashion after already conceding an eight point advantage to title rivals Manchester City. The 2-1 loss against Crystal Palace may only be the second loss suffered by Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, but it is immense in the context of the league title even though the season is only four games old. Neville knows a thing or two about playing as right back after he did so spectacularly for several seasons with United.

Chelsea boss José Mourinho has dismissed concerns that he does not trust defender Branislav Ivanovic anymore after dropping the Serbian to the bench for the Champions League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Ivanovic has come under huge criticism since the start of the campaign. His form has been a major reason behind Chelsea already conceding more goals than any other team in the league this season. Another defender who has also shared the blame is defender John Terry. Coming on the back of his most impressive season with Chelsea, it is surprising to see Terry’s form hit so hard.

Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has grown into one of the important numbers at the club, which seemed unlikely after making a £ 9 million move in 2009.

He rarely featured for the first-team immediately upon his arrival. It was then suggested that he may return back to eastern European football. His breakthrough at the club came under Ancelotti and he has never looked back since. Ivanovic comes on the back of a brilliant campaign with Chelsea and it saw him lift the second Premier League title in his career. After having won the league title for the first time since 2010, Chelsea will be hoping to retain the trophy next season.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho reckons that defender Branislav Ivanovic can play as a striker in order to help the club overcome the injury crisis upfront.

Ivanovic is one of the top goal scorers from defence with the Serbian managing to find the back of the net on a regular basis for both club and national teams. Most of his goals have come from headers, but he is also equally good with his feet. These qualities will appeal to Mourinho when his Chelsea team take on QPR at Loftus Road. The blues go into the match without two of their first choice strikers – Diego Costa and Loic Remy – both sidelined due to niggling injuries.