Posted on: Thu 10 Feb 2011
Branislav Ivanovic has signed an extension to his contract that will see him remain at Chelsea until 2016.
The new five-and-a-half year deal will see the 26-year-old Serbian defender through to the age of 32, by which time he should have significantly added to his 99 Chelsea appearances.
'It is good news for me, it is a very big step for me in my career and I want to give my maximum and try to help Chelsea win a lot more trophies,' he said.
'These things take a little time but my first vision was always to stay with Chelsea, there were not a lot of problems because I wanted to stay, the club wanted me to stay and I want to thank everyone who helped with the deal, I am very happy with that.'
Ivanovic (pictured signing his contract with club secretary David Barnard) was originally signed in January 2008 when Avram Grant was manager, but it was not until that September under Luiz Felipe Scolari that he made his debut, in the League Cup away at Portsmouth.
He has since gone on to win two FA Cups, last season adding the Barclays Premier League under Carlo Ancelotti, contributing both on the right and in the centre of defence.
In his three years at the club Ivanovic has scored seven goals, most famously netting two headers against Liverpool in the 2008/09 Champions League quarter-final first leg, an event that elevated him to first-team regular status.
'I don't like to think too much about the past because in football you have to get better every day, concentrate on small details of every game, but from my side maybe the two goals against Liverpool gave me confidence,' he analysed, 'but all other things have been slowly developing and step-by-step, which is what I have to do in the future.
'For every player coming to a new country you have to adapt and then you become better and better, but I now feel so comfortable here and I really enjoy being a Chelsea player and my wish was always to stay here.
'Now I think I can give many more good games, the three years has gone very quickly, and I think it has been a success so I hope to carry on getting better and better with Chelsea.'
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2290294,00.html
