West Brom are hopeful of landing Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on loan for the rest of the season but face serious competition from Russian Premier League giants Zenit St. Petersburg, reports The Daily Mail.
Ivanovic, who turns 33 next month, has entered the final six months of his existing deal and has been given the greenlight to leave the club on a free this month after dropping down the pecking order under Antonio Conte.
The Serbia international hasn’t started in the Premier League since Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in September and doesn’t appear to have a future at the club anymore after being overlooked by Conte in favour of Cesar Azpilicueta and Victor Moses in their new back three formation.
Zenit are reportedly ahead in the race to land the experienced defender and are even willing to table a three-and-a-half-year deal for the Chelsea veteran, which would be a longer deal than any Premier League side would likely offer.
However, West Brom are keen to bring Ivanovic to the Hawthorns and hope Premier League football will convince Ivanovic to remain in England rather than move abroad having lived in London since 2008.
Despite the fact Ivanovic’s form has fallen off a cliff in the last two campaigns he has still only committed two errors that have directly led to an opposition goal in his last 245 Premier League appearances.
For more stats on Branislav Ivanovic, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
