Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren has admitted that the main reason as to why he did not leave the Reds was because Jurgen Klopp convinced him that he will be of importance to the team in the near future.
Lovren joined Liverpool back in the summer of 2014 from south coast club Southampton in a £20 million deal and has played 121 times for the Merseyside giants. Last season, the 30-year-old helped Liverpool to the Champions League title but did not feature as much as he would have wanted for Klopp’s outfit.
The arrival of Virgil Van Dijk in a record deal worth £75 million back in January 2018 meant that there was a place for only one more defender in the heart of Liverpool’s defense. At the start of last season, young English star Joe Gomez was the most preferred option to start alongside Van Dijk but due to his injury, Joel Matip was given the chance above Lovren.
And the Cameroonian Matip has grabbed that opportunity with both hands making himself a solid contender to start all the games with Van Dijk. This meant that Lovren was pushed further down the pecking order despite reaching the World Cup final with Croatia.
This summer, Lovren attracted quite a bit of interest from Serie A club AS Roma and AC Milan as well and a move was certainly on the cards during the transfer window. However, Lovren has admitted that he spoke to Klopp about the situation and the 52-year-old German manager convinced him to remain at Anfield.
Lovren said that he did consider moving away from Anfield but was glad the transfer window is now shut, “I feel relief the transfer window is closed. I got tired of reading and listening every day about me leaving or staying in Liverpool. Everyone wrote ‘Dejan is here, Dejan is there’, and knew nothing! It annoyed me. Yes, I did consider moving, I knew I gave my best for Liverpool, won CL and I am not kind of player that likes to be benched and earn money. Some people around me advised me “What do you care, you are in a big club, shut up, take the money” But I am not happy on the bench.
He further went on to explain, I feel very happy because all the time I felt LFC was by me, I respect that a lot. Klopp told me “Listen, buddy, you are a top-class player, we will not let you go on loan. We need you”. I wanted to leave, it didn’t happen, I was told Liverpool needs me and I accepted that. Last week I spoke to Klopp again, he told me he understands me, knows I am not happy, but he also said, “Look, now it is finished, I want you to reset your head, I find you important”. I am in my prime age, in great shape, mentally ready and you cannot buy experience.”
