Serie A giants to sign Liverpool defender for £4.5m?

AS Roma are aiming to sign Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren on a cut-price deal during the summer transfer window.

The Croatian has less than 13 months remaining on his Reds contract and he has been widely fancied to leave the club this summer.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Roma have entered the race to sign the former Southampton man and they are looking into a bargain deal of around £4.5m.

Roma have sanctioned the sales of Alisson and Mohamed Salah to the Reds in recent years and they are hoping to use their good relationship in order to sign Lovren on the cheap.

Lovren is one of the longest-serving players at the Merseyside outfit and he has been with the club for nearly six years. His playing time has reduced over the past 21 months and he has made only nine starts in the league this term.

At present, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are ahead of him in the pecking order for the central defensive roles. It has recently been claimed that he could be replaced with compatriot Domagoj Vida from Besiktas.