Liverpool opinion: Why the Reds should not sell Dejan Lovren despite AC Milan interest
Times journalist Paul Joyce recently tweeted that AC Milan’s new sporting director Ricky Massara rates Dejan Lovren highly.
Gianluca di Marzio (h/t Express) reported that the Serie A giants are weighing up a move for Lovren in the summer too.
The Croatian defender had a tough campaign due to injuries with Liverpool as Joel Matip became the first-choice partner for Virgil van Dijk in the defence.
Lovren fell down the pecking order further as Joe Gomez started the season alongside Van Dijk, but a fracture took him out of the team for a while.
The Croatian centre-back also had injury problems last season, and he had similar problems in the previous campaign too.
Joyce adds that the Reds will only consider Lovren leaving if bids start at £25m, but selling the Croatian would be a major mistake for the coming campaign.
Would take bids of at least £25m for Liverpool to even consider letting Dejan Lovren leave. No contact from AC Milan, but their prospective new sporting director Ricky Massara rates Lovren highly. @TimesSport
— paul joyce (@_pauljoyce) June 12, 2019
Lovren is a crucial member of the team
The former Southampton defender might have made a few errors during his tenure at Liverpool, however, the Croatian has also put up some great performances under Jurgen Klopp.
The 29-year-old isn’t the youngest defender we have in the team but his experience still counts, and the team has bonded incredibly well under the German manager.
Unlike Daniel Sturridge and Alberto Moreno, who left in the summer as free agents, Lovren started double-digit Premier League games for us last season, and he was great alongside Van Dijk too.
Further, Liverpool need four quality centre-backs next season due to numerous competitions we are playing in.
The Reds were stretched due to injuries the previous campaign and even played Fabinho as an emergency centre-back.
Lovren might not be the first-choice at the moment, but it would difficult to replace him for £25m in the summer window.
The Reds would ideally be looking at a third or fourth choice centre-back, and Lovren hasn’t made any noises of wanting to leave.
The harmony in the team has to be maintained and Lovren’s relationship with Mohamed Salah is for all to see.
This isn’t to suggest that Salah would completely lose the plot if Lovren was sold, but why risk changing things when there aren’t any problems?
Liverpool have not been offered an extraordinary sum for Lovren, and the Croatian would also miss out on Champions League football next season at Milan.
The Reds have young defenders Nat Phillips and Ki-Jana Hoever to call upon, however, they still need time to develop.
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The 29-year-old Lovren has always given it his all for the club and should be part of the team for another season, at least.
