Chelsea went down 2-1 to manager Mourinho’s former club Porto in their Champions League match but the high point of the match remains the fact that Ivanovic was constantly being toyed with by Algerian star Yacine Brahimi. He seemed to just love playing with Chelsea right-back Branislav Ivanovic and dribbling and crippling him at his position, making it obvious that the right-back is actually presently a shadow of his former self.
Brahimi created the first goal through the errors of helpless Ivanovic and also created a chance for the corner kick that resulted in the second goal for Porto in the same match and made himself a big impact in the match and a huge presence throughout the match.
It was no news therefore, when Chelsea were reported to be chasing the player and intending to bring him to the Stamford Bridge by all means. However, this might be a very difficult option as the player just signed a new contract that brings his buy-out clause to £60 million. And to further rubbish all of the transfer rumors, the player’s agent, Francois Gill has released an official statement which said that, “Frankly, all that was said just now about the interest of Chelsea for Yacine is not true. These are just nonsense because to my knowledge, there is absolutely nothing about it. Personally, I have never had to confirm any contact between Cheslea and FC Porto for Yacine. So, again, these are rumors without any basis, especially compared to the figures that are advanced on the likely transfer amount.”
If Chelsea end up making a bid for the player, it will not be the first time the club buys a player that performs against them but if not, maybe another club will have to activate the buy-out clause and pry the player away from Porto.