Ivanovic talks about why he chose Zenit Saint Petersburg

After making over 250 appearances for the English Premier League club Chelsea, Branislav Ivanovic opted to make a transfer to the Russian outfit Zenit Saint Petersburg on a 2 and a half year contract.


The veteran defender had the chance to join other clubs from different leagues including the Chinese Super League but he got lured on making a move to Zenit St. Petersburg and the 33 year old footballer has talked about this switch as well as his reasoning behind the move.

"I am motivated and I think that I can play for many more seasons at the top level. I can say that I am excited to be here and everything went smoothly. I asked the club to release me if I received a suitable offer. Chelsea agreed, and I am very happy with that. There was an option to go to China, but I want to play at a decent level and continue my development. That's why I chose Zenit.” Former Chelsea player Branislav Ivanovic said.

For the majority of Branislav Ivanovic’s career that was spent at Stamford Bridge, he was a regular starter and undisputed first team player except for a few specific years. Taking into consideration the fact that Ivanovic was 32 years old during his final season as a player of Chelsea, it’s not surprising to see him being dropped and spending more time on the sidelines.

Now that the Serbian defender is performing with Zenit Saint Petersburg, he is playing an influential role despite being at such an elevated age. This is another one of the reasons of why he opted to join the Russian club as Ivanovic wanted to continue playing at a high level and still being a regular starter.