Chelsea have completed the signing of Serbian goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic from New England Revolution.
The 23-year-old becomes the Blues' 11th arrival of the summer window and has signed a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge with an option to extend until 2031.
Chelsea are understood to have paid an initial fee of £13.7m to sign Petrovic, which could rise to as much as £15.5m with performance-related add-ons.
Petrovic follows Diego Moreira, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Axel Disasi, Robert Sanchez, Lesley Ugochukwu, Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Angelo Gabriel and Deivid Washington to Stamford Bridge for the 2023-24 campaign, and he expressed his delight at signing for the Blues after putting pen to paper.
"I'm so happy to be at Chelsea and I'm really excited to get started at this club," Petrovic told the official Chelsea website. "It's a big step for me and it's always been a dream of mine to sign for one of the biggest clubs in the world. Today I have achieved that goal and I'm so happy.
It's a look. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/xAAU4c1YwH
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 26, 2023
"Playing in the Premier League is something I'm really looking forward to doing and I hope to learn many things here at Chelsea. I can't wait to meet everyone and play at Stamford Bridge."
Petrovic rose through the youth ranks with boyhood Serbian club Cukaricki, helping the club qualify for the preliminary rounds of the Europa Conference League before making the switch to MLS in April 2022.
New England Revolution hired Petrovic as a successor to Matt Turner ahead of the American's move to Arsenal, and the 23-year-old leaves with 15 clean sheets under his belt from 48 appearances.
Petrovic - who stands at 6ft 4in tall - recorded seven shut-outs from 22 appearances in the 2023 MLS campaign, and he has won two caps for Serbia in international friendlies.
"We are very pleased to welcome Djordje to the club. His performances in MLS have earned deserved praise and recognition – and have prepared him for the challenge of playing for Chelsea," Co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart added.
© Reuters
"Djordje improves an already strong goalkeeping team. We look forward to watching him work under Mauricio Pochettino, goalkeeper coach Toni Jimenez, and the rest of the first-team staff this season."
Petrovic arrives at Stamford Bridge following the departure of Kepa Arrizabalaga to Real Madrid, where the Spaniard is deputising for injured ex-Blues goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The Serbia international becomes the second goalkeeper to leave North America for Chelsea over the past year, following in the footsteps of Gabriel Slonina, who was loaned out to Belgian side Eupen earlier this summer.
Petrovic will be eligible to make his debut for Chelsea in Wednesday's EFL Cup second-round encounter with AFC Wimbledon, before Pochettino's side meet Nottingham Forest in their next Premier League fixture on Saturday 2.
Despite their extortionate spending so far this summer, Chelsea are still keen to add another striker to their ranks ahead of expected exits for Romelu Lukaku and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
