Photo: Southampton Twitter
After three years in the French Ligue 1 at Lyon, 23 year-old Croatian defender Dejan Lovren is moving to English Premier League side Southampton. Lovren had a falling out with Lyon management towards the end of the 2012-13 season and was benched for the club’s last few remaining games as a result. A transfer after the season finale looked inevitable.
Now Lovren will be moving to Southampton for a £6.8million transfer fee and will do battle with some of the best strikers the world has to offer. Southampton were promoted to the English Premiership after the 2011-12 season, where they finished in 14th place.
Lovren told Southampton’s website: “I’ve spoken a lot with the chairman and the coach and this is a great project. They told me a lot of positive things and I know the history of the club. It’s a big club and I’m very happy that I can be a part of it.”
A fresh beginning awaits the young Croatian defender as he looks to insert himself back in a respectable starting XI spot. With a solid season at Southampton, expect Lovren to be in Croatia’s starting lineup by the time September’s qualifier vs. Serbia kicks off.
ahh… I still remember Super Bosko killing it at Rijeka. But that time at Aston, uffff. He suprisingly turned it around at Brugge for a while… but why is he playing in the Malay league now? Why not play for some bs HNL team?
why is everyone bashing on the d all the time.. we all shit our pants before euro and they held the fort great… last i checked creating offence and scoring was our problem
maybe now he will learn to play properly
He is a mediocre player at best so I don’t have the highest of hopes for him. Hope he sorts it out, because our National team defense is horrid.
No matter what ever happens to Lovren in England, he wont ever be as big of a bust as Balaban or Silvio Maric or the headcase that Igor Biscan was.
Win-Win for all sides. Lyon get to off-load a under-performing player for €10 Million, whom they purchased in 2010 for €8 Million. So it’s a decent piece of business.
While Dejan moves to a better league, and will be a starter for Southampton. Once hailed as a great prospect, hopefully this move gets his career back on track.
The strikers should offer a better challenge so hopefully Lovren gets a preworld cup practice against the strikers he will face in the 2014 cup
His play has been inconsistent and at times disappointing but hopefully this change will do him well. I hope he does well for them and Hrvatska.
Love the move for Lovren.
The physicality of the EPL will suit him fine. Also the up and down running will allow him some opportunity to unload his cannon and shoot from long distance.
I am rooting for him as we need him ready to go for us as we make this push for Brazil.
Southampton is a little club compared to Lyon, Lyon is one of Ligue 1’s gigants meanwhile Southampton can’t win shit in EPL.
@Chopper
Croatia should be drawn with a team like Norway or Montenegro, when you are 4th in Fifa Rankings it’s not quite hard to qualifiy isn’t it? Haha
FIFA has confirmed that the playoffs will be seeded for World Cup qualifying and they will use FIFA Rankings to determine the seeds.
@TO CRO
I guess RP isn’t going to be coaching the NT anytime soon, but he does speak the truth.
I like it too!
Trial by fire.
Welcome to the bigs!
This transfer will definitely keep lovren on his toes. He will now have to learn what its like to be under constant pressure from opposing sides. Alot different to what he’s used, coming from Lyon.
Lovren playing for the saints? Who would have thunk it?
He will be battle hardened when this is up that’s for sure.
This will be an interesting season. Can’t wait
Lovren is still a very young guy. Great athlete, though!
Read this Prosinecki article on his thoughts about the repka.
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/prosinecki-sammir-nije-zasluzio-poziv-a-nije-normalno-da-halilovic-igra-samo-zato-da-ne-bi-odabrao-bih/683493.aspx
@Denis:
You are proving Ziva right, about Dalmatians being lazy.
He should get fewer red cards in the EPL given their lax “officiating”
@ least I will get to watch him more
EPL teams have plenty of money to spend. Just a question if they will spend it. Remember the TV contacts in England. There is a reason many English teams overpay for players.
Wow Southampton is willing compete, last summer they spent over 10 mil for Gaston Ramirez beating out Liverpool, and now they sign lovren for around 10 mil
I like the transfer as I don’t have to cover Lovren for Lyon as part of Croatians Around Europe anymore. 🙂
Lovren has been nothing short of terrible for Lyon this year. Dude has lots of potential and will be busy in defense for Southampton next year. Luckily for Lyon this season, Lyon dominated possession most of the time and Lovren enjoyed an easy night in the park when he played.
I wish him the best, but I fear the worst.
Maybe a fresh new start is all that Lovren needs.
.
Thought he would be able to go to a better team. Would rather him stay in lyon and develop.
5 red cards at least. But I hope he does good. Always liked Southampton. Concentrated on youth and had England’s most underrated player Matt Le Tiessier.
If he plays his cards right by the time his contact is up in 4 yrs he could make a move to a big club. He’ll be in his prime at 26 or 27.
I think this is a good move as well! He’ll get time, Exposure. And the EPL is probably the best league for his style.
JUST STOP GETTING RED CARDS!!!
I like this transfer. Southampton impressed me in 2013, and Lovren should certainly get a lot of playing time.
Best of luck to him, one more reason to watch the EPL!