- Blues set to complete deal
- Will compete with Robert Sanchez
- Chelsea will pay €16m (£14m/$17m)
WHAT HAPPENED? Fabrizio Romano reports that Chelsea are poised to complete a deal to bring Petrovic into the club from New England. The club have sold Edouard Mendy to Al-Ahli this summer, and have also loaned Kepa to Real Madrid. They have signed Robert Sanchez from Brighton, but their current back-up goalkeeper is the journeyman Marcus Bettinelli; Petrovic will fix that issue.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Petrovic is so highly-rated that he has also been linked with Manchester United and Liverpool, having been nominated for the prestigious MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award. Ironically, the 23-year-old replaced Matt Turner in the team after New England sold him to the Premier League, as he joined Arsenal. Petrovic is now set to follow in his footsteps by heading to the capital, albeit to west London.
AND WHAT'S MORE: Chelsea have explored the MLS market before, bringing in Matt Miazga and fellow goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina from the United States in recent years. Petrovic will look to compete with, and ultimately usurp, Sanchez in Mauricio Pochettino's starting XI, with a medical booked in for later this week.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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WHAT NEXT? Chelsea will look to complete the signing of Petrovic swiftly; they face Luton Town on Friday.