Chelsea FC: Branislav Ivanovic Linked To Bayern Munich Move
Chelsea FC right back Branislav Ivanovic has been linked with a shock move to Bayern Munich according to popular German paper Bild. Thanks to the miracles of Google Translate, we can read the Pep Guardiola has supposedly made the Serbian defender one of his top targets for the summer transfer window.
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Ivanovic is under contract with Chelsea FC until the end of the 2016 season but because he is over the age of 30, the club will start to offer him only one year deals. The time to cash in on the player, if that is indeed what Chelsea wants to do, would be this summer before his contract expires and he is able to walk away on a free transfer.
While many fans have pointed their ire over Chelsea FC’s porous defense in Ivanovic’s direction, it is hard to argue against how important of a player he has been for the Blues. He has scored several important goals for the club over the course of his career and has continued to do so this season with big goals against PSG, Aston Villa, and Liverpool in the League Cup.
On his day he is unplayable and the opinion seems to swing wildly from considering him the best right back in the league to being a worthless defender. The problem with Ivanovic these days is that he is much better going forward than he is in defense. He was skinned by the Southampton wingers, including Ryan Bertrand, and was made to look foolish twice in the build up to Hull City’s goals.
His versatility and overall ability are keeping him in the squad but many are calling for him to be replaced by the more reserved Cesar Azpilicueta. The Chelsea FC attack may suffer as a result but the defense may be improved as a result. The Blues’ defense has been atrocious since the turn of the year as they seem to have given up a lead in nearly every fixture.
Equalizers in matches against PSG, Liverpool, Aston Villa, and of course Hull City this weekend spring to mind when pondering Chelsea FC’s defensive frailties. Ivanovic is obviously not at fault for all of those goals but he has certainly been lacking in the defensive department this season.
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Bild quotes Ivanovic’s value at around £12.5 million, not a bad sum for 31 year old player that was purchased in 2008 for £9 million. Obviously the point of the deal would not be to profit off the development of Ivanovic but rather to cash in on an asset that is at the tail end of his prime and could be leaving for free sooner than later.
There are several excellent young defenders out there that Chelsea FC could possibly target but they will not come cheap. Let us not forget that the Blues have a very capable replacement in Azpilicueta as well. It would be hard to see Ivanovic go but if the Blues used the funds to find a better and younger replacement then the sorrow of his departure will be short lived.
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