BRANISLAV Ivanovic is staying at Chelsea after being told by Jose Mourinho he is a major part of his plans.
Ivanovic is to turn down opportunities at Barcelona to stay at Stamford Bridge
The Serbian defender, who scored the winner in
the Blues’ Europa League Final triumph over Benfica in May, had been a
summer transfer target for Barcelona.
But after
returning for pre-season training last week Ivanovic held talks with
the Chelsea boss and was immediately assured that he is a wanted man
at Stamford Bridge.
And the idea of working with
a coach of Mourinho’s calibre and standing clearly beats the prospect
of joining La Liga champions Barcelona.
Ivanovic, 29, said: “We had our first meeting with Mourinho. He looks very impressive and that’s pleasing.
“With
him Chelsea will act as a team, but we will also improve individually.
Mourinho is very important for the club and for the fans.”
A £9.5million buy from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2008, Ivanovic is now hoping to finish his career with the Premier League outfit.
A
source close to the player added: “All being well, Branislav would like
to be a Chelsea player for the remainder of his playing days at the
highest level.
“He is definitely staying at Chelsea. He loves Mourinho’s style and is keen to play for the new coach.
“He
has been told that he does have a future at the club and, while there
was the possibility of him going to Barcelona, he is happier staying in
London.”
Chelsea manager Mourinho believes Ivanovic's versatility is an asset to the club
And Mourinho believes the player’s versatility – he can slot in easily at either full-back or centre-half – is another important asset for his Chelsea squad.
Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne hopes to show why new coach Mourinho believes it is time he stepped out of the shadows and became a regular starter.
The Belgium international midfielder, 22, is ready to hit the ground running on the club’s pre-season Asia tour.
Mourinho has made it clear that all the players start under him with a clean slate – and that is why he recalled De Bruyne from an 18-month spell at German outfit Werder Bremen. Hitman Romelu Lukaku has also been recalled from a year on loan at Premier League rivals West Brom.
De Bruyne said: “The manager said he has a lot of confidence and brought me back because he believes in me.
“I have to show that on the pitch but it is nice when the trainer has confidence in you. I have to work hard and see what happens in pre-season.
“After training you can have a good laugh but in the session he likes discipline and wants everybody working hard on the field.”
Like Manchester United and Arsenal, Chelsea are making the most of some lucrative promotional opportunities while in the Far East.
There they will play matches in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta before then heading to the United States.
In America they will take part in the Guinness International Champions Cup, along with Everton, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy.“Ivanovic has become a firm favourite with the Blues’ fans for his consistent no-nonsense style of defending”
Chelsea open the tour against Singha All-Stars this Wednesday and De Bruyne added: “The tour of Asia will be difficult for us, with the heat and the humidity.
“But we will see what happens and we just have to prepare ourselves well for the season.
“We have a lot of young players and it will be good to go on tour and stay together – and get to know each other. It should be fun.”
Czech Republic defender Tomas Kalas, 20, is another who will step up into the first-team group following his spell at Vitesse.
Looking ahead, Mourinho expects big things in the future and said: “The best period for this team lies in the future.
“They are very young and it is in five, six or seven years’ time that this team will have the best time of their careers.”
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