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We have to go back to January for the last bit of news regarding Danilo Pantic and Chelsea. The 18-year-old midfielder from Partizan Belgrade -- not to be confused with equally promising Andrija Zivkovic -- was supposedly signed by Chelsea during the winter transfer window, only for the player to deny any such agreement not a week later. Since then, silence.
But today, noise! Everything's happening today.
Danilo Pantic:' I signed a contract with Chelsea in June. I'm happy with the loan at Vitesse. It'll be a good experience for me.'
— VitesseChelsea (@VitesseCFC) July 13, 2015
Danilo Pantic:' I've played for Partizan Belgrade before. I'm a central or attacking midfielder and I have a good pass, technique and shot.'
— VitesseChelsea (@VitesseCFC) July 13, 2015
Danilo Pantic:' I knew Uros Djurdjevic and the Chelsea player Baker, Brown and Nathan. All the players were very nice to me today.'
— VitesseChelsea (@VitesseCFC) July 13, 2015
Vitesse's official site confirms that while Pantic has already joined the team at their training camp in Austria, his paperwork is still not quite complete. They have two weeks to sort it all out, which is when Vitesse are scheduled to play in the Europa League third qualifying round. Vitesse technical director Mo Allach expects Pantic to compete with fellow new arrivals Lewis Baker and 28-year-old Israeli international Sheran Yeini for (the deeper) midfield spots.
With the arrival of Baker and Yeini we already have [managed to add] two good midfielders... Here now comes the young Serbian talent at Pantic. That all acquisitions can train with this week is important for the group process and to [train them] as soon as possible [in] our own way of playing football.
-Mo Allach; source: Vitesse
Vitesse have lost all three of Davy Propper (sold to PSV), Marko Vejinovic (sold to Feyenoord), and Josh McEachran (returned to Chelsea; sold to Brentford) this summer. They have basically no set starters in center midfield at the moment, though Yeini probaly has a spot assured at the moment based on his CV. The Chelsea loanees have an excellent chance to grab some minutes and make an impact.