Djordje Petrovic: Bournemouth sign Chelsea goalkeeper in £25m deal

Bournemouth has signed goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic from Chelsea for £25 million on a five-year contract. The 25-year-old Serbian international previously joined Chelsea from New England Revolution for £14 million in 2023 but spent the 2023-24 season on loan at French club Strasbourg.

During his loan spell, Petrovic was named Strasbourg's player of the season after helping them secure seventh place in Ligue 1 and qualify for the Europa Conference League. Despite having been Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper under Mauricio Pochettino with 23 appearances, he was loaned out due to concerns about his ability to play out from the back.

While Petrovic's passing statistics didn't significantly improve at Strasbourg, his distribution accuracy surpassed that of Chelsea's current number one goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. However, Chelsea's backup Filip Jorgensen outperformed both in passing metrics. Petrovic excelled in shot-stopping, preventing nearly 10 more goals than an average goalkeeper based on expected goals data—ranking sixth among Europe's top five leagues.

Sanchez remains favored at Chelsea after winning the Golden Glove in their Club World Cup victory, notably making crucial saves and demonstrating accurate distribution in the final against PSG. Petrovic, who has earned seven caps for Serbia since 2021, becomes Bournemouth's third summer signing. He stated he joined to "grow and play at the best level," aiming to help the club achieve results and improve daily.