Liverpool have lowered their asking price for defender Dejan Lovren amid AC Milan remaining keen on the player, according to TuttoMercatoWeb.
The Italian outlet claim that the Croatian international is now said to be valued closer to £13.7million after the Serie A club held another meeting with Lovren’s agents.
TuttoMercatoWeb report that despite the Reds lowering their asking price, Lovren’s £100,000 per-week wages [Source: Spotrac] are a sticking point, with the 30-year-old demanding an annual salary of over £3.6million (4million Euros).
AC Milan are said to be targeting another central defender because if an offer in the region of £16.5million was to come in for Argentinian defender Matteo Mussachio, they would consider a sale.
OPINION
The links between Lovren and the Serie A club are failing to disappear recently, and are starting to progress if this report is anything to go by. With the Italian outlet claiming that Liverpool could be tempted with a lower offer of £13.7million, it would come as no surprise should the Croatian leave Anfield this summer. With the Liverpool Echo claiming that Lovren is set to stay, his future is well and truly in the air. A deal looks to be reliant on whether or not Milan sell Mussachio, so any offer isn’t close – with the meeting between the two more than likely being a precaution just in case the Italian club do sell their defender. Lovren’s wage demands also seem to a problem and Milan will need to decide whether it is worth that amount of expenditure. The 30-year-old only made 11 starts in the Premier League, and the Reds would no doubt be more than happy to sell him this summer. This situation is a win-win for Jurgen Klopp, with Lovren still more than capable of the high standards set at Anfield after averaging 1.2 tackles and 3.9 clearances in the top-flight last season [Source: WhoScored]. Either way, Liverpool will get a high earner off their books or they keep an experienced defender.
