Liverpool will reportedly opt against selling Dejan Lovren this summer, with Jurgen Klopp said to be the key factor behind the decision.
The 30-year-old has been a key figure for the Merseyside giants since joining the club in 2014, making 170 appearances for the club.
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However, he has gradually fallen down the pecking order in recent times, with both Joel Matip and Joe Gomez seemingly ahead of him in Klopp’s plans to play alongside Virgil van Dijk.
From making 43 appearances in the 2017/18 campaign, Lovren featured just 18 times last season, and as he waits for his first outing this year, it has unsurprisingly raised question marks over his future at Anfield.
According to Sky Sports though, Klopp has sensibly decided that he will not give his approval of a sale of the Croatian international, with Juventus, AC Milan and Roma all said to have been interested in him ahead of the summer transfer window deadline.
It’s a sensible decision in that with Liverpool looking to compete on multiple fronts this season, Klopp surely needs as much quality depth as possible to not only act as cover in the event of injuries, but also to be able to rotate in other competitions to give his key figures a rest if needed.
Lovren has plenty of experience and quality to offer the squad too, and so it would seem like a questionable decision to allow him to leave and then not be in a position to bring in a replacement.
Liverpool did of course snap up youngster Sepp van den Berg this summer, but naturally, it’s perhaps a far from ideal scenario if Klopp is forced to throw him into the mix at a young age with no real experience at the highest level.
Time will tell if Lovren gets opportunities to impress and gets minutes under his belt, but based on the report above, it doesn’t seem as though he’ll be heading to Italy on Monday.
