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Crystal Palace have made 'tentative enquiries' to Zenit St Petersburg about former Chelsea man Branislav Ivanovic's availability with hopes of bolstering their defence, according to the Daily Mail.

What's the story?

34-year-old Ivanovic has emerged as a target for Palace as he has entered the final year of his current contract in Russia, although there is the option of an extra year. If the Eagles want to bring him to Selhurst Park any earlier than that he could cost them a meagre £2.7m, according to Transfermarkt's valuation.

The London club will have to compete with Fulham and more notably La Liga giants Barcelona. Having spent over £100m on signings (Evening Standard) prior to their first Premier league game of the season, Slavisa Jokanovic still seems unsatisfied with his current defensive options at Craven Cottage while Barca are weighing up options following a knee injury to World Cup winner Samuel Umtiti.

Branislav Ivanovic challenges Shkodan Mustafi in the air

Why is Bran the man?

The Serbian spent nine years in the capital with Chelsea in which he scored 34 goals in all competitions and won at least one trophy each year, including three Premier League titles, with Blues fans most fondly remembering him for his Champions League quarter-final brace against Liverpool. He said his farewells in 2017, packing his bags for Russia.

Palace's inability to score goals points to the need for a striker and while the 6 footer won't offer too much in that department, the SE25 outfit have looked confused as to what to do with the ball and lacked confidence in recent showings. Perhaps what they need is a leader on the pitch with a wealth of experience, which is Ivanovic in a nutshell.

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The former Lokomotiv Moscow man was vice-captain for Chelsea from 2015 and also captained his national side until Aleksandar Kolarov took the armband prior to the 2018 World Cup.

Ivanovic would provide cover for Roy Hodgson's back line and could capably step in at pretty much any point across it, having played as both a centre-back and right-back in his 16 year career. The error-prone Mamadou Sakho has cost Palace points this season but is currently difficult to drop due to the lack of a quality replacements on the bench - that would change if Ivanovic joins the ranks in January.