Danilo Pantic has finally been released by Chelsea to join Partizan Belgrade on a permanent transfer.
His departure was confirmed by the club website yesterday morning, with Belgrade announcing his arrival shortly after.
This concludes Pantic’s six-year spell spent on the Stamford Bridge books, despite never actually appearing for the Blues.
He joined Chelsea in 2015 for a reported £1.25m (Daily Mail), ironically arriving from Belgrade.
Jose Mourinho was manager at the time, but distanced the midfielder from his squad.
The Serbian was instantly sent out on loan to Vitesse Arnhem and never returned to South West London.
There were stints at Excelsior, Belgrade again, Fehervar, and most recently, Cukaricki.
Things have come full circle as Pantic returns to the team he left over half decade ago.
Having been put onto Chelsea’s release list at the end of last season, the 24-year-old is now being snapped up on a free transfer.
Something that the Blues failed to mention when sending out his farewell statement.
Pantic was joined by five others who have been let go by the Champions League winners.
Izzy Brown, Jamal Blackman, Declan Frith, Jack Wakely, and Marco van Ginkel were all unleashed by Chelsea.
Willy Caballero was the only member of Thomas Tuchel’s squad to bid farewell to South West London.
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