Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has to fight for his place in the team after manager Antonio Conte completed the signing of new left-back Marcos Alonso this summer, The Telegraph reports.
The Italian took over at Chelsea after his Italy management era came to an end after Euro 2016 was over for the Azzurri, but he had to wait until transfer deadline day to announce the signing of a new full-back.
It’s reported that Conte will prefer Chelsea’s defensive star Cesar Azpilicueta moved to his natural right-back’s position, seeing Ivanovic fall onto the bench, while Alonso takes the remaining left-back’s role.
Ivanovic only has 12 months left in his contract with the Blues, and despite his good relationship with the club owner Roman Abramovich, it’s the time for the big Serbian to prove his worth for Conte.
Having been rated as one of the best Premier League defenders, the 32-year-old suffered a huge drop in form last season.
He has kept his place in the team under Conte in the first four games of the season, but has still looked rather shaky.
