Barcelona Planning Shock Move for Liverpool Defender

After the Coutinho saga that surrounded Liverpool almost all of last season, Barcelona are now apparently eyeing the transfer of another Liverpool star, this time in the form of a shock move for Dejan Lovren, according to a report earlier today from Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.

The Catalan giants have been forced into the market after Samuel Umtiti picked up a serious knee injury during Barca’s stunning 2-1 loss at Leganes and boss Ernesto Valverde sees Lovren as one of a number of options.

With Umtiti set to be out for a number of months, Lovren is viewed as an ideal candidate to replace him and a move could be made as soon as the window opens in January.

Having only made his first Premier League appearance this season in the 0-0 draw with Manchester City at Anfield 9 days ago, Lovren’s place in Klopp’s plans are ambiguous, with Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez seemingly the preferred pairing.

The Croatian, who has reached both the Champions League and World Cup Finals this year, could look for a move away if he is not guaranteed of his place in the starting XI this season, yet a move to La Liga would be a strange decision. Once Umtiti returns, it is difficult to see Lovren displacing either him or Gerard Pique to be a regular.

To say the 29-year-old has divided opinion since his arrival from Southampton 4 years ago would be an understatement but there is no denying the fact a partnership with Van Dijk was really beginning to blossom at the tail end of last season.

He can be inconsistent, but when he plays well, he’s absolutely immense and with the sale of Ragnar Klavan and the limited options at centre-back already this season, it seems unlikely that Klopp would sanction Lovren’s sale, especially at the benefit of Barcelona.