Dejan Lovren’s time at Liverpool is officially up, with the Reds announcing his sale to Zenit St Petersburg. This might be another masterstroke by Michael Edwards.
Liverpool have made an official announcement to confirm that Dejan Lovren has left the club after a six-year spell at Anfield. The Croatian defender has joined Russian giants Zenit St Petersburg, who have signed him on a three-year contract.
Always committed. Always passionate.
Thank you, Dejan ❤️ #YNWA pic.twitter.com/gefEFKm1RY
— Liverpool FC (Premier League Champions ?) (@LFC) July 27, 2020
Lovren leaves Liverpool after winning four trophies, including the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League. He made 185 appearances for the Reds, but was constantly in and out of the side. And, even though Jurgen Klopp has given a glowing report on the player’s time at Liverpool, this is the right call from the Merseyside club and their sporting director Michael Edwards.
While Lovren chipped in with quite a few important performances over the course of his six-year stay at Liverpool, he always seemed to have a mistake in him, which meant he was never really a reliable presence at the back. The latest of those horror shows had come in the embarrassing defeat to Watford in March; Lovren never started a game for Liverpool again.
Honestly I despise Lovren. For that game against City (A) mainly, but ye, i genuinely don’t like him at all and he’s so cocky, happy he’s gone. I feel harsh saying that, but they’re my true feelings towards him. Good riddance. I now like every player in the squad 🙂
— Ollie6*19 (@lfcollie9) July 27, 2020
In addition, selling Lovren should also mean Liverpool enter the transfer market for a centre-back. While the Reds already do have two reasonably reliable centre-backs in Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, neither has managed to show enough to warrant being Virgil van Dijk’s partner over the course of a season.
Matip struggled with injuries this season, which is starting to make him a frustrating figure at the Merseyside club. Gomez, on the other hand, has a lot of scope for improvement, having made a few needless errors in the run-in this term. Liverpool do seem to be looking at centre-backs, with Ben White already linked as a potential replacement for Lovren, as per recent reports.
LOVREN IS LEAVING AHHHHH pic.twitter.com/bd6Acr7TI2
— ❼ (@xrizzy21) July 27, 2020
Someone like Nathan Ake could possibly be a value-for-money signing for Liverpool, considering that Bournemouth’s relegation to the Championship could drive down his price. All in all, this is a scenario that benefits the newly-crowned Premier League champions, provided they make a shrewd signing; both White and Ake would be upgrades on Lovren, on paper.
