Antonio Conte has removed the defender from his first-team plans but Tony Pulis’s West Bromwich Albion could offer the perfect lifeline.
If you are a modern, overlapping full-back dressed in a winger’s clothing, Tony Pulis is probably the last manager you would want to sign for.
Luckily for both player and club, 32-year-old Branislav Ivanovic is hardly the kind to fly up and down the wing for 90-plus minutes. Not these days, anyway.
The Birmingham Mail reports that West Bromwich Albion are closely monitoring the veteran Serb’s situation at Chelsea while Zenit St Petersburg negotiate a potential return to Russia for the former Lokomotiv Moscow hard man.
And although he has been exiled from the first-team by Antonio Conte in recent months, his ability to make those trademark shuttling darts declining with age, West Brom are perhaps the perfect club to extend his Premier League career.
After all, Pulis is renowned for prioritising his full-backs’ defensive abilities over their attacking intent, the back four sitting deep and narrow while the forwards do what they are paid to.
How many other Premier League teams would start Craig Dawson at right-back?
Therefore, Ivanovic’s lack of pace would not be a problem in a side who sit deep and do not expect their full-backs to approach every game like a 90-minute bleep test.
Furthermore, his height and experience would also be put to good use by a manager who transformed Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans into one of the league’s most imperious partnerships.
Few could blame Ivanovic for being tempted by a return to Russia and the riches of Zenit but, if he wants to remain at the top of the European game, West Brom is the place to be.
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