Liverpool have had a persistent defensive crisis throughout the ongoing campaign and were forced to deploy Fabinho at times in a makeshift centre-back role. The likes of Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren have exhibited drastic improvement following the arrival of Virgil van Dijk. However, none of the trio failed to partner the big Dutchman on a permanent basis due to continuous injury problems.
Yet the Reds should consider offloading Dejan Lovren in the summer amid interest from AC Milan, AS Roma and Napoli as reported by the Sun. The Serie A trio are set to engage in a £25m battle to rope in the Croatian who still has a couple of years left in his Liverpool contract beyond the ongoing term.
Lovren, 29, completed a £20m transfer from Southampton back in the summer of 2014. But the defender had a bumpy start to his Liverpool career and received stern criticism from the supporters. Yet he kept on working on his game and eventually earned a regular role in Jurgen Klopp’s backline.
The Croatian had a stupendous World Cup but struggled to stay fit since the start of the campaign. He had to wait for his chances having lost his place to Joe Gomez but failed to grab the same in the long term following the latter’s foot injury due to recurring hamstring problems.
The player will be in his thirties next season, and the club must look to make a profit on the player who was a high-profile recruit under the then boss Brendan Rodgers. The rise of Joe Gomez has been exhilarating, whereas Joel Matip, too, is doing a decent job alongside Van Dijk during an injury-hit period. Lovren, therefore, has slipped down the pecking order in the past few months and a move to Italy would be worthwhile for all parties involved.
Although the Reds should bring in a replacement to add strength as well as depth in the heart of the defensive third, the progression of academy prodigy Nat Phillips should also be monitored following an impressive pre-season which convinced Klopp to sanction Ragnar Klavan’s transfer to Cagliari.
But the central defensive stars other than Van Dijk must work on their fitness during the break to stay fit as well as available for a season-long service. They would do well to ensure that the gaffer made no mistake by sanctioning the Croatian’s transfer.
