Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

Dejan Lovren to Roma - Is it a good move by Liverpool?

Croatia international Dejan Lovren is headed to Roma, will that be a good move by Liverpool?

Croatia star Dejan Lovren

Bengaluru, August 14: Croatian international centre-back Dejan Lovren is reportedly closing in on a move away from Liverpool with Serie A giants Roma being touted as the destination of the former Southampton star.

With the English transfer window already shut, Liverpool can not sign a replacement for the 30-year-old now. So, it looks like a brave move by Jurgen Klopp to bid the experienced defender a goodbye.

The Reds could get £15million plus bonuses for the experienced defender and it would be a great deal for them if looked from the financial perspective. Lovren is by no means at his best right now and his value will only depreciate with time. Plus, the amount recouped is not a bad amount for a player who would have been the fourth choice at Anfield.

Reports of the defender potentially on a move to AS Roma began to surface earlier this week and with him being excluded from Liverpool's travelling team to Istanbul for the super Cup game against Chelsea virtually means that a move is imminent. But, has Klopp made a big mistake by letting Lovren leave? We discuss that here.

Well, for quite some time now, Lovren has been the fourth choice centre-back at Anfield. Virgil Van Dijk is on a level of his own and is arguably the best defender in the world right now. Joe Gomez, meanwhile, is highly-rated by Klopp and the young Englishman has proved his worth whenever he has been called upon.

Until the second half of the last season, it was Dejan Lovren vs Joel Matip for the third-choice at Anfield but Joel Matip has grown from strength to strength when Gomez was injured. The Cameroonian was rock-solid along side Virgil Van Dijk leading Liverpool to their sixth European title and their best ever points tally in the Premier League era only to lose the title to Manchester City by one point.

From the footballing point of view, Lovren needed a move for the sake of his career. He still has a few years left in him and it is the best for him to play for a team where he can get minutes on the pitch and Klopp is a kind of a manager who always does what he thinks is the best for his players. He probably did not want to stand in the way of Lovren as a move to Roma would be a great move for his career.

However, with Lovren's departure, a big void will be created at Liverpool and they may regret it during the long season. With the Club World Cup also to play, this could be the most hectic season for Liverpool if they can stay in the two domestic cups for the long run and an experienced back-up defender like Lovren could have been useful. Also Gomez being injury-prone does not help at all.

Ki Jana Hoever and newly-recruited Sepp Van Der Berg are both promising youngsters who could be promoted to the first-team fold, but they are still very young and will be a big gamble especially in the Premier League. But, with Klopp making the decisions, one can hardly doubt the moves Liverpool make in the transfer market.

Story first published: Wednesday, August 14, 2019, 12:30 [IST]
Other articles published on Aug 14, 2019