Dejan Lovren

Dejan Lovren
Lovren with Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Dejan Lovren[1]
Date of birth (1989-07-05) 5 July 1989
Place of birth Zenica, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Liverpool
Number 6
Youth career
BSC Sendling
1999–2002 NK Ilovac
2002–2004 NK Karlovac
2004–2006 Dinamo Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2010 Dinamo Zagreb 37 (1)
2006–2008 → Inter Zaprešić (loan) 50 (1)
2010–2013 Lyon 72 (2)
2013–2014 Southampton 31 (2)
2014– Liverpool 109 (4)
National team‡
2004–2005 Croatia U17 18 (2)
2006 Croatia U18 2 (0)
2006–2008 Croatia U19 10 (1)
2007–2009 Croatia U20 5 (0)
2007–2010 Croatia U21 19 (3)
2009– Croatia 46 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:19, 7 October 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:44, 15 July 2018 (UTC)

Dejan Lovren (Croatian pronunciation: [dějan lǒʋren];[3][4] born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Premier League club Liverpool and the Croatia national team.

Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to Olympique Lyonnais in January 2010. He spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Ligue 1 team and won the 2012 Coupe de France before he signed for Southampton in 2013. After one season with Southampton, he joined Liverpool for £20 million and has since made over 150 appearances for the club.

Having previously represented Croatia at various youth levels, he made his senior debut in 2009 and has since gone on to make over 40 appearances for his country. He was selected in Croatia's squads for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the latter of which were beaten finalists against France.

Early life

Lovren was born to Croatian parents in the city of Zenica, SFR Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina).[5] His family fled from Yugoslavia to Munich to escape the Bosnian War when Lovren was three years old, and he spent the next seven years in Germany. Speaking about his time as a refugee, Lovren stated that he was "a happy boy, I spoke German perfectly, I went to school, I played for a little club."

His family eventually had to leave as they did not possess necessary documentation to reside in Germany and settled in Karlovac, Croatia, 50 kilometres southwest of the capital city of Zagreb.[6][7] Lovren initially found settling in Croatia difficult, and struggled in school for a couple of years due to his unfamiliarity with the Croatian language.[7] His younger brother Davor is also a footballer.[8]

Club career

Dinamo Zagreb

Lovren first played football in Germany with Munich-based BSC Sendling.[9] After moving to Croatia, he played for local teams NK Ilovac and NK Karlovac as a youth before joining GNK Dinamo Zagreb in 2004.

On 10 May 2006, he made his debut for Dinamo in a Croatian First Football League match against NK Varteks Varaždin. On 17 July 2006, Lovren was loaned to NK Inter Zaprešić for two seasons where he made 50 league appearances and scored one goal. Following his return from loan Lovren regularly featured in Dinamo's starting XI, appearing in 38 matches throughout the 2008–09 season and scoring three goals. In the 2009–10 season, he featured in all four of Dinamo's UEFA Champions League qualifiers against Pyunik Yerevan and Red Bull Salzburg, and managed to score a header against Pyunik.[10]

Lyon

Lovren playing for Lyon in 2010

In January 2010, Lovren signed for French Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais for €8 million plus €1.5 million in incentives on a four-and-a-half-year contract.[11] He made his competitive debut on 24 January 2010 in their 2–1 defeat at AS Monaco in the Coupe de France, playing the full match. His Ligue 1 debut came on 31 January in Lyon's 2–1 win at home against Paris Saint-Germain, once again playing the full 90 minutes. During the second half of the season, he made 10 appearances, mostly as a substitute. He was not allowed to participate in Lyon's matches in the UEFA Champions League that season as he had already played in the competition for Dinamo Zagreb.

Lovren's playing time increased during the 2010–11 season following the departure of two other defenders, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Mathieu Bodmer, in the summer of 2010. During the season, he gradually established himself as a first team regular starter, playing as a centre-back alongside Cris as well as being used as a right or left full-back, demonstrating himself as a versatile defender.[12] In November 2010 Lovren was listed in the Don Balón list of the 100 best young players in the world.[13]

On 23 January 2012, Lovren extended his contract with Lyon for two more seasons, signing with the French club until 2016. He started for Lyon in the 2012 Coupe de France Final, a 1–0 win over Quevilly, but was substituted after 18 minutes for Bakary Koné.

Southampton

On 14 June 2013, Lovren signed for Southampton on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee,[14] which was estimated at £8.5 million.[15] He made his debut on 17 August 2013, in a 1–0 win against West Bromwich Albion.[16] He scored his first goal for Southampton against Liverpool at Anfield on 21 September 2013, a goal which proved to be the winner.[17] On 19 October, he assisted Adam Lallana for the equalising goal against Manchester United in a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford.[18] He added a second league goal in a 2–2 away draw against Sunderland on 18 January 2014,[19] but was stretchered off late in the game and required hospital treatment after the match.[20] On 23 January, it was announced that along with midfielder Gastón Ramírez, Lovren would be out for six-to-eight weeks with ankle ligament damage.[21]

At the conclusion of his first season in the Premier League, Lovren was named in Bloomberg Sports' Power 50 list, which provides statistical rankings of performances from players in Europe's top five leagues.[22] He was the fifth-highest ranked player from the Premier League in 31st position.[23] After much speculation regarding Lovren's future following the departures of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Rickie Lambert from Southampton, the Liverpool Echo reported on 25 July 2014 that Southampton had agreed a fee with Liverpool for the sale of Lovren, who was set to undergo a medical at the Merseyside club after reportedly handing in a transfer request at Southampton.[24]

Liverpool

Lovren playing for Liverpool in 2014

On 27 July 2014, Lovren became the third Southampton player that transfer window to join Liverpool, after Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana. He signed a four-year deal for a reported fee of £20 million, becoming the most expensive defender in Liverpool's history.[25][26]

On 10 August 2014 he made his debut in a friendly for Liverpool against Borussia Dortmund at Anfield, scoring the second goal in a 4–0 victory,[27] and made his competitive debut on 17 August in the club's opening game of the Premier League season, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win over former club Southampton at Anfield.[28] He scored his first official goal for Liverpool on 28 October, when he headed in the game-winner from a free-kick in a fourth round League Cup 2–1 victory over Swansea City.[29] However, following his poor performance in a Champions League defeat to Basel, Lovren was dropped from the first team.[30] As the last penalty taker, Lovren put his attempt over the crossbar as Liverpool lost in a penalty shootout to Beşiktaş on 26 February 2015 as they were eliminated from the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League.[31] The Telegraph website included Lovren in a feature about the 2014–15 Premier League's 20 worst signings which remarked on the number of his errors that resulted in opposition goals.[32]

Lovren regained his place in the lineup for the first three games of the 2015–16 season and performed well securing three clean sheets and seven points. However, following a pair of defeats to West Ham United and rivals Manchester United in which the defence conceded six goals, Lovren again lost his place to Mamadou Sakho.[33] On 8 November he came on as a substitute for Sakho in a 2–1 defeat to Crystal Palace at Anfield, with Sakho sustaining a knee injury that ruled him out for two months.[34] On 13 December, in a 2–2 draw against West Bromwich Albion, Lovren was stretchered off the pitch in the 79th minute due to injury and was replaced by Divock Origi.[35] The following 14 April, Lovren scored a stoppage-time winning goal in a 4–3 Europa League quarter-final win over Borussia Dortmund.[36] Having endured a difficult start to his career at Liverpool, by the end of the 2015–16 season under Jürgen Klopp, Lovren was described as having transformed into a "calm and composed" leader on the pitch by the Liverpool Echo.[37]

On 28 April 2017, Lovren extended his contract with Liverpool, until 2021.[38]

Lovren (right) playing for Liverpool in 2017

On 17 December 2017, Lovren scored his first goal of the season in a 4–0 win over Bournemouth; a result which saw Liverpool become the first team in Premier League history to win four consecutive away league matches by a margin of at least three goals.[39] After Virgil van Dijk's arrival on 1 January, he and Lovren built a steady partnership at the heart of Liverpool's defence.[40] On 14 January 2018, Lovren captained Liverpool for the first time in a 4–3 win against Manchester City.[41] On 13 May, Lovren scored his second goal of the season in a 4–0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion, which secured Liverpool's qualification for the UEFA Champions League next season.[42]

International career

Lovren with Croatia at 2018 FIFA World Cup

Lovren has made 54 appearances and scored six goals for various Croatian youth national teams.[43] He received his first call–up to Croatian national team in August 2009 by manager Slaven Bilić, who included the player in his match squad against Belarus. Lovren was an unused substitute, but still was reportedly delighted with the new experience.[44] He made his debut against Qatar on 8 November 2009, coming on as a substitute for Danijel Pranjić.

On 2 September 2011, Lovren scored his first international goal, against Malta in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match. He was included by manager Slaven Bilić in the preliminary 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2012 but had to withdraw because of injury one week before the tournament.[45] Lovren scored his second goal for Croatia on 26 March 2013 in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Wales at Liberty Stadium in Swansea. It was an equalizer that leveled the match after Gareth Bale had given Wales the lead from a penalty which Lovren conceded. Croatia eventually won the game 1–2.[46][47]

In May 2014, Lovren was named in manager Niko Kovač's provisional 30-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[48] In the opening match of the tournament, on 12 June against the hosts Brazil in São Paulo, Lovren was judged by the Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura to have fouled Fred in the 69th minute when the score was 1–1. A controversial penalty was given, which was converted by Neymar and led to Brazil's eventual 3–1 win.[49][50]

Lovren's deteriorating relationship with manager Ante Čačić ultimately resulted in him being left out of Croatia's squad for UEFA Euro 2016.[51]

In May 2018, he was named in Croatia's squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[52] He then featured throughout the competition as Croatia reached the final where they lost to France.[53]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 7 October 2018[54][55]
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dinamo Zagreb 2005–06 Croatian First Football League 1000—0010
2006–07 Croatian First Football League 0000—0000
2007–08 Croatian First Football League 0000—0000
2008–09 Croatian First Football League 22181—8[lower-alpha 3]1383
2009–10 Croatian First Football League 14040—11[lower-alpha 4]1211
Total 371121—192604
Inter Zaprešić (loan) 2006–07 Croatian Second Football League 21040——250
2007–08 Croatian Second Football League 29120——311
Total 50160——561
Lyon 2009–10 Ligue 1 80101000100
2010–11 Ligue 1 28020106[lower-alpha 5]1371
2011–12 Ligue 1 18130208[lower-alpha 5]0311
2012–13 Ligue 1 18100105[lower-alpha 6]0241
Total 72260501911023
Southampton 2013–14[56] Premier League 3120000—312
Liverpool 2014–15[57] Premier League 26040216[lower-alpha 7]0381
2015–16[58] Premier League 240104010[lower-alpha 6]1391
2016–17[59] Premier League 2920030—322
2017–18[60] Premier League 292000014[lower-alpha 5]0432
2018–19[61] Premier League 1000100020
Total 1094501013011546
Career total 3041029115166440316
  1. ↑ Appearances in Coupe de France and FA Cup
  2. ↑ Appearances in Coupe de la Ligue and EFL Cup
  3. ↑ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Cup
  4. ↑ Four appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. ↑ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 15 July 2018[62][63]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Croatia 200920
201030
201181
201210
201391
201470
201610
201760
201890
Total462

International goals

Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first.[63]
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 2 September 2011Ta'Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali Malta3–13–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
2 26 March 2013Liberty Stadium, Swansea Wales1–12–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Source:[64]

Dinamo Zagreb

Inter Zaprešić

Lyon

Liverpool

Croatia

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "First Team Profiles". Liverpoolfc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "Dèjan". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Dèjan
  4. ↑ "Lóvro". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Lòvren
  5. ↑ "Dejan Lovren Player Profile". LFC History. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Cunningham, Sam (5 December 2013). "Lovren is always in top gear for Saints..." Daily Mail. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  7. 1 2 Doyle, Paul (30 November 2013). "Dejan Lovren puts traumas behind him to enjoy Southampton high life". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Brus, Mark (26 October 2015). "Liverpool identify Dejan Lovren's brother Davor as possible transfer target". Metro.
  9. ↑ "Dejan Lovren: Vom BSC Sendling ins WM-Halbfinale (From BSC Sendling to the World Cup semi-final)". www.fupa.net (in German). 10 July 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "Dinamo pred praznim Maksimirom prošao dalje" (in Croatian). Dnevnik. 21 July 2009. Archived from the original on 25 August 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  11. ↑ "Reference Document 2008/09" (PDF). Olympique Lyonnais. www.actusnews.com. p. 101. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Support inside Barcelona for Lyon defender Lovren increasing". tribalfootball.com. 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "Don Balon's list of the 100 best young players in the world". Don Balón. 2 November 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  14. ↑ "Saints Land Lovren". Southampton FC. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  15. ↑ Simpson, Gordon (14 June 2013). "Saints make £8m swoop for defender". Southampton Echo. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "West Brom 0 – 1 Southampton". BBC Sport. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  17. ↑ "Liverpool 0 – 1 Southampton". BBC Sport. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  18. ↑ "Manchester United 1 – 1 Southampton". BBC Sport. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  19. ↑ "Sunderland 2 – 2 Southampton". BBC Sport. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  20. ↑ Slavin, Harry (19 January 2014). "Pochettino admits concern over Lovren and Ramirez injuries". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  21. ↑ "Gaston Ramirez and Dejan Lovren out for up to eight weeks". BBC Sport. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  22. ↑ "Saints trio in Bloomberg Power 50". Southampton FC. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  23. ↑ "Power 50 List". Bloomberg Sports. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  24. ↑ "Liverpool FC agree £20m deal for Lovren". The Liverpool Echo. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  25. ↑ "Liverpool sign Dejan Lovren from Southampton". BBC Sport. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  26. ↑ "Dejan Lovren seals Liverpool transfer". Liverpool Football Club. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  27. ↑ "Liverpool 4–0 Borussia Dortmund". BBC Sport. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  28. ↑ "Liverpool 2–1 Southampton". BBC Sport. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  29. ↑ "Liverpool 2–1 Swansea". BBC Sport. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  30. ↑ Lewis, Darren (12 December 2015). "Dejan Lovren's Liverpool future in doubt as teammates lose faith in defender after dismal start". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  31. ↑ Whalley, Mike (26 February 2015). "Besiktas 1–0 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  32. ↑ "20 worst Premier League signings of the 2014–15 season". The Daily Telegraph. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  33. ↑ "Rodgers Insists Sakho Remains in His Long-Term Plans". SB Nation. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  34. ↑ "Liverpool's Mamadou Sakho out six to eight weeks with knee injury". ESPN FC. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  35. ↑ "Liverpool 0–0 West Brom". BBC Sport. 13 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  36. ↑ Hunter, Andy (14 April 2016). "Liverpool's Dejan Lovren sinks Borussia Dortmund in stirring comeback". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  37. ↑ Pearce, James (7 May 2016). "Blood Red: Lovren's transformation epitomises Liverpool FC's progress under Klopp". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  38. ↑ "Dejan Lovren: Liverpool centre-back signs new deal until 2021". BBC Sport. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  39. ↑ Crawford, Stephen (17 December 2017). "Liverpool Make History with Record Away Goal Tally". Goal. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  40. ↑ "van Dijk has made me a better player, says Liverpool's Lovren". Reuters. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  41. ↑ Shaw, Chris (14 January 2018). "Lovren: Being Liverpool captain was an honour". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  42. ↑ "Liverpool 4–0 Brighton & Hove Albion". BBC Sport. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  43. ↑ "Hrvatski nogometni savez". www.hns-cff.hr.
  44. ↑ "Novi reprezentativac spreman za "modre" izazove" (in Croatian). NK Dinamo. 14 August 2009. Archived from the original on 16 August 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2009.
  45. ↑ "Croatia Euro 2012 squad sees Lovren and Kalinic miss out". Daily Mail. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  46. ↑ "Lovren izjednačio, Eduardo zabio za pobjedu!" (in Croatian). gol.dnevnik.hr. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  47. ↑ Pope, Bruce (26 March 2013). "Wales 1 – 2 Croatia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  48. ↑ "Provisional Croatia call for Lovren". Southampton FC. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  49. ↑ "Brazil 3–1 Croatia". BBC Sport. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  50. ↑ "World Cup 2014: Brazil v Croatia referee scandalous – Dejan Lovren". BBC Sport. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  51. ↑ Islamović, Elvir (16 May 2016). "Čačić looks to Croatia youth as Lovren misses out". UEFA. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  52. ↑ "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced? - Goal.com".
  53. 1 2 McNulty, Phil (15 July 2018). "France 4–2 Croatia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  54. ↑ "Dejan Lovren: Club Matches". worldfootball.net.
  55. ↑ "Ligue1.com – Player profile Dejan LOVREN (Olympique Lyonnais)". www.ligue1.com.
  56. ↑ "Games played by Dejan Lovren in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  57. ↑ "Games played by Dejan Lovren in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  58. ↑ "Games played by Dejan Lovren in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  59. ↑ "Games played by Dejan Lovren in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  60. ↑ "Games played by Dejan Lovren in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  61. ↑ "Games played by Dejan Lovren in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  62. ↑ "Lovren, Dejan". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  63. 1 2 "Dejan Lovren profile". eu-football.info. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  64. ↑ Dejan Lovren at Soccerway. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  65. ↑ McNulty, Phil (26 May 2018). "Real Madrid 3–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  66. ↑ McNulty, Phil (18 May 2016). "Liverpool 1–3 Sevilla". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  67. ↑ "World 11: The Reserve Team for 2017-18". FIFPro.org. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
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