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Southampton Reject Liverpool’s Opening Lovren Bid

As negotiations continue between Barcelona and Liverpool for the services of the Luis Suarez, the Reds have been busy on other fronts as well, wrapping up deals for Adam Lallana and Emre Can, as well as having an opening bid of £20mil for Southampton defender Dejan Lovren rebuffed by the South Coast club.

The Reds have been looking for defensive reinforcements to stop the rot at the back and Lovern has been heavily linked with a move to Merseyside. The Croatian defender has also been pipped as a target for Barcelona, but he looks more likely to follow fellow ex-Saint’s Lallana and Lambert to Anfield with rumours circulating that he’s prepared to blow-off pre-season to get his way.

New Southampton boss Ronald Koeman is keen on stopping the exodus from St. Mary’s after seeing two players sold to Liverpool and one to Manchester United. The Saint’s hierarchy have assured the ex-Feynoord manager that he’ll have money to rebuild the squad, but the one thing he can’t offer is European football and that’s exactly what Lovren, who has apparently already made his intentions to leave the club known, is looking for.

The Croatian center-half put in a strong showing in the Premier League last season and has attracted the attentions of a host of clubs — most notably Liverpool. Despite finishing Premier League runners-up and scoring 101-goals during last campaign, the Reds shipped an unacceptable amount of goals with their unsettled back-line a major cause for concern. If the Anfield outfit are going to keep things tighter at the back as they look to navigate their first season back in the Champions League since 2009, the defense needs to be sorted out — they could do worse than bringing Lovren into the fold.