Stanic hangs up his boots
The former Croatian international made five appearances for Premiership giants Chelsea last season after a persistent back injury kept him on the sidelines.
A knee injury also disrupted his time at the Stamford Bridge club and the midfielder ends his Chelsea career after making a total of 80 appearances in four seasons with The Blues.
Born in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, Stanic started his playing career with local side Zeljeznicar before moving to Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb in 1992.
A year later, he joined Spanish side Sporting Gijon before heading to Portugal and Benfica in the summer of 1994.
In 1995, Stanic started a two-year spell with Belgian giants Club Brugge before heading to Italy's Serie A with Parma in 1997.
Former Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli then paid the Gialloblu £5.6 million to bring Stanic to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2000, where he would end up finishing his playing career.
As a Croatian international, Stanic earned nearly 50 caps for the Balkan country and was in the squad that finished third at the 1998 World Cup finals in France.
The 32-year-old will not see out the final year of his Chelsea contract, as he now looks ahead to a future off the football pitch.
