After making Gabriel Slonina the most expensive goalkeeper sale in Major League Soccer history, Chelsea have returned to the United States to break that record with a move for New England Revolution stopper Djordje Petrovic.
The Blues have agreed a deal worth up to £16.5m for the highly rated 23-year-old, who is heading to Stamford Bridge to compete with Robert Sanchez for the newly vacated starting spot.
Here's all you need to know about Petrovic ahead of his move to England.
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Djordje Petrovic's career so far
Born in Yugoslavia in 1999, Petrovic started playing football at seven years old and only ended up as a goalkeeper because his team did not have anyone else to play the position. It was a stroke of genius and Petrovic would end up in the academy of Cukaricki in Serbia. He'd go on to make 86 appearances for the club, including outings in the Europa Conference League, before a switch to Major League Soccer in 2022.
Recruited by the New England Revolution to replace the departing Matt Turner, who would join Arsenal that summer, Petrovic only played the second half of the 2022 MLS season but was still named the team MVP, and he finished second in the league's Goalkeeper of the Year voting.
In New England, Petrovic has worked closely with goalkeeping coach Kevin Hitchcock, who coincidentally made 112 appearances for Chelsea between 1987 and 2001.
Nantes and Nottingham Forest were both reported to have lodged bids for Petrovic in July 2023, while Manchester United and Liverpool were credited with an interest before Chelsea came in with a bid.
Internationally, Petrovic has featured for both Serbia's Under-21 and B team and he also has two caps for the senior team.
Djordje Petrovic's strengths
Scouts have highlighted reflexes and shot-stopping as Petrovic's key assets, as well as his ability to use his 6'5 frame to claim crosses and compete in the air.
Petrovic has also forged a reputation as somewhat of a penalty specialist during his time in MLS. He became the fastest player in league history to record five penalty saves, keeping out over a third of the 14 spot-kicks he faced during his first 31 games.
Djordje Petrovic's weaknesses
Distribution has never been Petrovic's strongest asset, but it is an area in which manager Bruce Arena has seen real improvement.
"He’s grown as a goalkeeper since last year," Arena said. "He continues to get better. I think his distribution has gotten better. His ability to communicate with his teammates has improved. He’s growing into a real good goalkeeper."
Djordje Petrovic's shirt number
Petrovic wore the 12 shirt during his time in Serbia and kept that number during his time with the national team, but his move to New England saw a switch to the unconventional number 99.
"Maybe it's because it's my birth year, that's what I associated with it, 99," he told Glas Amerike. "I don't have any connection with numbers or a favourite number or anything."
Djordje Petrovic's nickname
Thanks to his long limbs and lightning reflexes, Petrovic has earned the nickname 'The Octopus' in his homeland.
His save percentage of 82.7% was the highest in MLS in 2022, during which he made more saves than 46 of the other 62 goalkeepers who saw minutes.
This article was originally published on 90min as Who is Djordje Petrovic? Career so far, strengths, weaknesses & more.
