Lovren has been attempting to force a move to Liverpool in recent days
At one point last week, Dejan Lovren seemed almost a certainty to be moving to Anfield but the reported £20 million that Liverpool offered for the player didn’t appear to match up to Southampton’s valuation of the Croatian centre back.
Quite why the south coast side would believe a player they paid just over half that for 12 months ago would be worth nearer to £25-30 million (which is apparently the fee they’re after) is surely beyond even the most open-minded of football fans, particularly given that Liverpool paid less than £20 million for a highly sought after, full French international last summer.
Then again, on the other hand, given that they’ve already lost their best striker and captain to Brendan Rodger’s side, it is fairly understandable that they’d be reluctant to lose their best defender too.
Many Reds can’t see what the fuss is about over Lovren, and paying anywhere over £20 million would surely not go down well but if you take the time to look over some of last season’s stats, he actually comes out ahead of some of the supposedly more cultured and well-respected centre backs, particularly the highly regarded Vincent Kompany. Only our own Martin Skrtel was able to dominate Lovren in some categories.
But in recent days, the behaviour of the Croat has begun to leave a sour taste in the mouth, crying foul that Southampton have not informed him of any bids from the club and are denying him his ‘dream move’ to Liverpool.
It all sounds fairly familiar, doesn’t it? I seem to recall ourselves being in a similar position last summer and that very same player is again causing us no end of trouble by hiding out in his homeland while his ‘lawyer’ and agent sorts out a transfer to Barcelona, whilst merrily involving everybody from his nations’ own head coach to Mr Class-personified himself, Sepp Blatter.
It’s something I’ve given some thought to over the weekend and, as much as I can’t stand this kind of attitude from our own players when they’re trying to force a move, is it really right to overlook the players of another club doing the same to try and force a move to our club?
The correct answer is no, of course, no matter how much you might really want that player to join us. We all know how meaningless a contract is these days, but a certain amount of dignity and decorum can go a long way. I mean, when Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana found out the club were interested, I can’t recall either accusing the club of forcing them to stay against their will or kicking up as much a fuss as Lovren; all Southampton could’ve been accused of was ensuring they got the best deal for themselves.
Which is why, at the moment, I’m beginning to wonder whether Liverpool wouldn’t be better off moving their interest elsewhere. I wrote earlier today that, with Matts Hummels seemingly available, Liverpool must surely be a more attractive prospect at present than Manchester United? And he would not doubt be a much more attractive one to ourselves than Dejan Lovren.
Jan Molby wrote yesterday, in his piece for Yahoo! Sport that, after reacting this way to having been refused a move to Liverpool, who’s to say that he won’t kick up the same kind of a fuss in 18 months to 2 years, if he has a couple of great seasons for Liverpool? Do we really want to be bringing that kind of potentially disruptive attitude into what has become a very close-knit environment at Anfield since Rodgers took over?
Of course, the club will always want players that show a desire and passion to play for the club but there really are better ways to go about it and perhaps, whether the transfer of Lovren happens or not, somebody should let him know the way he’s gone about things isn’t the ‘right’ way to impress the club you want to move to.
Saints fan here in peace. The whole situation with Rickie Lambert was handled very well. Whilst we were disappointed to see him leave, given the circumstances we weren’t gonna stand in his way. Also, given his age and the fact that he wasn’t quite so productive last season, it wasn’t a bad deal for us, so long as we can sign a decent replacement.
Lallana didn’t handle himself very well at all. On returning from Brazil he spat his dummy out and said he’d never play for Saints again if he wasn’t granted his wish to move to Anfield. Quite frankly I reckon we came out of the deal pretty well. When he’s on his game he’s very good, but he does have a tendency to go missing when the pressure is on.
As for Lovren, well good riddance to the guy. He’s shown a complete lack of class in the way he has handled this situation. If your club (or any other) is prepared to offer anything over £20 million, we should take it and be relieved he’s gone, despite his unquestioned ability.
Spot on Rudolph. This ‘reporter’ must have an extremely short memory. He even signed Liverpool shirts on camera before his move – Something Lovren hasn’t quite stooped to yet.
I hope you sign Lovren now. Apart from Lambert you seem to be weeding out the worst personalities in our entire squad and paying a large amount for the it too.
Maybe it’s all a tactic to get Suarez to stay – surround him with classless mercenaries just like him.
*for it too
Woa woa::you saints fans hav gone too far ok. Is it our fault u’ve neva played champs league or europa for ova 4 decades? Any livapool fan stil wanting us to buy lovren(even for jus 10m) despite his current appaling unprofessionalism should be jailed:::there ar beta cbs in d market e:g hummels vertoghen howedes mangala papadopolous alderwereld and d list goes on
Your spelling is absolutely appalling.
Gone too far how?
*Different generic Bob to the man below by the way
We were in the UEFA cup in 2004 actually..
Emeka – speak English boy! This may be the way you speak down the Job Centre – but come on pick it up a little when in the public domain dear chap! Init!
saints just want as much money they can get from their players . I don’t really feel the lallana buy . overpaid
I have respect for Liverpool and love the Saints. Your building a great squad of good players and this guy was good but has shown his total lack of respect, not just to us but football everywhere. If you look into his move to Saints from France the same thing happened. Teddy went flying and he got what he wanted. On the pitch he is usually reliable… off the pitch he is a disgrace, by acting like this against a team that loved him is frankly embarrassing to football.
Good luck after your first match of the season 😉
I’m a liverpool supporter and I find lovren’s actions disrespectful toward the club that gave him his chance in the epl. There is a way to behave even if you want to move on
where did my comment go? i was the first on here!
was it because i called Lallana a fairy (due to the way he flaps his arms about when he plays) or because i called Lovren a sausage jockey?
As a LFC supporter, totally against of players forcing for a transfer even if its to LFC. We want players to part ways in a good manner. Be greatful to the present club that employed them. Show respect and gratitude. If the player can force a move to a new club,the will do it again to elsewhere in future.
if we had paid £15mil flat for lovren before the world cup, this wldn’t have been happening…. lallana is a good player but, not as important to lfc as lovren is….(we will soon complete markovic deal which raises d question y wasting fund on lallana?)
Saints wouldn’t have sold him for £15m before the world cup
Cortese wouldn’t have put up with this nonsense, neither would the great LFC managers of the past. why? because they knew class is permenant. Anything else is a quick fix & not worth the investment. I hope RL makes a real impression at LFC… Legend! Dejan should sit in the naughty corner until he can say sorry!