Manchester City are ready to make a shock move for Chelsea full-back Branislav Ivanovic. Ivanovic is out of contract this season and Manchester City have asked Chelsea to be kept informed about his contract talks reports The Daily Mail.
Ivanovic wishes to stay at Chelsea and wants to sign a two-year deal with the club but formal talks regarding his contract are yet to take place. Ivanovic is happy in London and is already the third longest serving player in Chelsea’s history with over 200 appearances for the Blues and would like to add more to that number if Chelsea place an appropriate offer for him.
The 31-year-old defender is out of contract in the summer and free to talk to foreign clubs now while Manchester City have also asked to be kept informed of developments. Some foreign clubs believed to be interested are the 2 Milan clubs and Zenit St Petersburg.
Roman Abramovich is a big fan of the aggressive Serbia captain, but Chelsea have a policy of offering only one-year contracts to players over 30. Moreover, Chelsea are yet to give him an assurance in writing about his future.
Chelsea officials have only informed Ivanovic that an offer will be coming in soon but Ivanovic is sceptical as he knows that the likes of John Terry got new deals only in May. Reports yesterday suggested that Ivanovic had agreed a new one-year Chelsea contract with an option of a further year but no contract had been signed. Manchester City have registered their interest and want to know how talks progress between Chelsea and Ivanovic’s representatives.
Bacary Sagna, City’s current first choice right back has done a decent job for them since signing from Arsenal and a move for someone who is at a similar age as Sagna makes little sense as both defenders would be going past their primes at around the same time.
Ivanovic is currently having a season to forget and has been the subject of severe criticism from the Chelsea fans. However, everyone knows what Ivanovic is capable of and is probably one of the best in his position in the Premier League. He was also in the PFA Team of the Season last time. Signing a player of his experience and quality on a free wouldn’t be too bad,would it?