Chelsea have announced the signing of Serbian young goalkeeper, Djordje Petrovic from MLS side New England Revolution.
Chelsea’s club statement confirming the signing of Djordje Petrovic reads;
“Chelsea has completed the signing of goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic from MLS side New England Revolution.”
Djordje Petrovic joins Chelsea’s growing list of new signings this summer as the club continue their restructuring and overhaul of the squad.
The signing of Petrovic takes the number of Chelsea new additions this summer to 10 players. The Blues’ first signing this summer was Angelo Gabriel from Santos after the club had a pre-contract agreement with RB Leipzig for Christopher Nkunku, who also joined this summer.
Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal, Lesley Ugochukwu from Rennes, Axel Disasi from Monaco, Robert Sanchez from Brighton, Moises Caicedo from Brighton, Romeo Lavia from Southampton, and Deivid Washington from Santos makes the list of fresh additions to the squad.
Djordje Petrovic is the second goalkeeper signing for Chelsea joining Robert Sanchez, who is now taking over from Kepa Arrizabalaga as the Blues’ first-choice goalkeeper after the latter departed for Real Madrid on loan.
Petrovic will be expected to serve a backup role behind Robert Sanchez.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Serbian shotstopper is joining Chelsea on a 7-month contract till 2030 for a reported transfer fee of £14m, comprising of £12.5m fee and £1.5m add-ons.
Who is Djodje Petrovic?
Djorde Petrovic, 23, is a talented young goalkeeper, who plied his trade with MLS side, New England Revolution before attracting interest from Chelsea.
He plays for Serbia national team and had made his debut for the team in 2021, winning only 2 caps.
Born on 8 October 1999 in Pozarevac Yugoslavia, Djorde Petrovic started his youth career in 2014 with Cukaricki. He played for four years for Cukaricki youth before making his first senior debut in 2018.
During his spell with Cukaricki, he had a short loan stint at Serbian top side IMT from 2018 to 2019. Petrovic made 78 appearances for Cukaricki, spending four years at the club before moving to the MLS where he signed for New England Revolution.
He was temporarily placed on the club’s reserve team, where he made only one appearance before being drafted into the main team. He has made 48 MLS appearances for the squad and was used as first-choice goalkeeper before interests from Premier League and French clubs.
Djordje had a running three-year contract with New England Revolution. He had two years remaining in the contract but was open to an exit this summer.
The 23-year-old was a top goalkeeper target for Premier League side Nottingham Forest and French Ligue 1 side Nantes, including Manchester United before Chelsea outrace the rival interests and signed the player.
Despite having two years remaining in his New England Revolution contract, Djordje Petrovic pushed for MLS exit as far as he could before it finally happened.
He reportedly refused to join New England Revolution training session in an attempt to push through a move away from the club.
National team career
Djorde Petrovic played for Serbia U-21 in 2020 making an appearance for the team before earning his call up for senior national team action. He made his senior debut for the team against Dominican Republic and has gone on to win 2 caps with the team.
