Barcelona are considering a shock move for polarising Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren, according to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.
The newspaper claims that the Spanish champions are considering bringing the Croatian international, who is on a reported £90,000-per-week contract at the club [Source: Spotrac], to the Nou Camp.
Centre halves Samuel Umtiti and Thomas Vermaelen are both sidelined through injury at the moment, leaving Ernesto Valverde with just Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet as fit central defenders.
Lovren, who divides opinion at Anfield with his performances, is said to be one of the men Barca are looking to bring in in January to help plug the injury gap at the back, with the 29-year-old having been eclipsed by Joe Gomez this campaign.
OPINION
This will not have been a move that many people saw coming. Lovren has looked better since Virgil van Dijk joined Liverpool in January and he had a terrific World Cup with his country in Russia this summer, but he’s not generally considered to be a world class centre half. Joe Gomez has replaced Lovren while the latter has been injured this season and he’s looked magnificent so far this term, perhaps making the Croatia international less of an essential ingredient on Merseyside in the coming years. Barcelona obviously need reinforcements in the middle of the defence now they only have two fully fit centre halves, and Lovren makes sense as an experienced stop-gap. Jurgen Klopp rates Lovren highly, that’s why he has consistently selected him throughout his time at Anfield, but Gomez’s emergence means that the former Southampton man isn’t necessarily needed on Merseyside anymore. It’s a bit of a surprise link, but the more you think about it the more it makes sense for everyone involved.
