Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren is reportedly edging closer to a move to Roma, and there could be a key sacrifice made by the Italian giants to secure a deal.
The 30-year-old may well be given the green light to move on by Jurgen Klopp this summer as he has fallen down the pecking order at Anfield behind Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.
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Given that the Merseyside giants are competing on multiple fronts for major honours though, it could be argued that they should keep the Croatian stalwart to provide depth, but perhaps Lovren himself will be itching for a more prominent role and could favour an exit.
With that in mind, Corriere dello Sport report that Roma are interested in prising him away from Anfield and that he has emerged as their top target.
The two clubs are said to be close to an agreement, with Liverpool demanding €20m, while Roma could offer a €2m initial loan move before making it permanent for €16m.
That would suggest that there is a minimal gap between the two parties, and importantly, the report goes on to suggest that Roma could be willing to give up some of the bonuses still due to them from Liverpool in the deals for Mohamed Salah and Alisson.
In turn, that could convince Liverpool to reach an agreement, with the two clubs having good relations given the transfers completed between them in recent years.
Time will tell if that’s enough to open the door for a Lovren exit, but the suggestion from the report is certainly that he’s moving closer to a new challenge in Italy with Liverpool seemingly confident that they have enough quality and depth without him as they won’t now be able to replace him until January at the earliest.
They did of course snap up youngster Sepp van den Berg this summer, and so perhaps Lovren’s exit will open up a path for him to come through and be part of the senior squad.
