Crystal Palace are interested in signing Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on loan until the end of the season, according to a report from Harry Pratt of the Express.

The 32-year-old looks to have found himself well down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge and it appears that he will exit the Blues when his contract expires at the end of the current campaign.

There were reports that he might move abroad in the summer and that is still a possibility but in the short-term, he wants first team football and would ideally like to stay in London as he doesn’t want to disrupt his family life midway through a season.

Ivanovic was one of the best defenders in the league in the not-too-distant past but those days seem to be behind him. However, he’s still a very good player and would give Alan Pardew the option of playing him either as a central defender or as a full-back.

Whether he’d get in the Palace team is debatable, but he’d certainly be a useful squad player at worst.