Who is Matej Delac? The Chelsea keeper who is yet to play his first game in 8 years
- Kaustubh Pandey
After being signed by the Blues in 2010, Delac has seen current Arsenal keeper Petr Cech establish himself as a regular and leave the club in 2015. After the Czech Republic international’s departure, Delac also oversaw the rise to prominence of Thibaut Courtois and his development into one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Chelsea have seen a host of second-fiddle goalkeepers get signed a fail to become a regular, be it Carlo Cudicini, Ross Turnbull or Asmir Begovic, but Delac didn’t play a single minute for the Blues, unlike the others. Very few have known him, despite he being at Stamford Bridge for seven years.
Delac has announced that he will leave the club, finally frustrated at the lack of playing time.
The 25-year-old has spent loan spells at many as eight clubs during his stay, with clubs such as Vitoria Guimaraes, Vitesse and Vojvodina among those sides that he appeared for. Back in 2013, Dalec also had a loan spell at his former club Inter Zapresic.