With news filtering through that Crystal Palace look set to sign Cardiff City defender Steven Caulker in a deal worth £8mil, Liverpool are expected to up their attempts to sign want-away Southampton center half Dejan Lovren, but the Saints are doing everything they can to throw a spanner in the works.
The Croatian, who has already expressed his frustration at what he sees as a lack of ambition from the South Coast side, is expected to go MIA in an attempt to force through a move to Merseyside as new boss Ronald Koeman his new charges back in shape ahead of their pre-season tour of the continent. The former Feynoord manager pulled out the kid gloves in an attempt to urge the 25-year old back to training, but he also refused to say whether or not he’d still be at the club by the time the transfer window closed.
“I hope Dejan will come back. He has to come back on Sunday” Koeman told the press. “He said it’s a difficult situation and he will have another talk to the club and his agent, but he knows he has to come back because he is still a player of Southampton.” How much longer he will be is the question with Liverpool already having one bid of £20mil turned down. With the defender saying that “his head” is already on Merseyside, persuading him to stay at St. Mary’s may be a bridge too far.
“I know Liverpool have got a lot of money now after the Suarez transfer, and normally they will spend that money, and they will buy some players, and maybe they will buy one player of Southampton” he continued. “OK, that’s a normal question. But as a manager of Southampton, I have to do everything to keep the best players. The final decision is of the board of the club. “You like to have all the players happy, happy to be at Southampton. If there is a different opinion, we will speak about that and make a decision.”
