Branislav Ivanovic is on the verge of ending his nine-year spell at Chelsea

Branislav Ivanovic is reportedly on the verge of ending his nine-year spell at Chelsea to join Zenit St Petersburg on a free transfer.

Ivanovic has been offered a two-and-a-half year contract worth around £82,000-a-week to move to the Russian club.

The 32-year-old still has five months left on his contract at Stamford Bridge, but has become a peripheral figure under coach Antonio Conte and is prepared to leave.

West Ham, Everton, West Brom and Leicester have also shown interest in Ivanovic, who joined Chelsea from Lokomotiv Moscow for £9.8m in the January transfer window nine years ago.

But Zenit are in advanced negotiations and are confident they can secure his signature before Tuesday's transfer deadline.
Ivanovic has played a major role during his time at Chelsea, where he has won eight major trophies.

He scored the winning goal in their Europa League triumph in 2013, a year after he was suspended for the Champions League Final victory against Bayern Munich.But the Serbia international has struggled for form and fitness over the past 18 months and has started eight games this term, the majority of which were at the start of the campaign.

Ivanovic has barely featured since Conte switched to a 3-4-3 formation in October and chose to play Victor Moses as a right wing back.

Even though he is still under contract, Chelsea are prepared to grant him a free transfer.