Liverpool To Offer Lovren In Deal For $111M Defender Who Could Form A Formidable Partnership With Van Dijk: Report

KEY POINTS

Liverpool likely to offer Lovren in a deal to sign Napoli's Koulibaly
Napoli have labeled the defender with a fee of $111 million
Lovren has started in just 10 Premier League games this season

Liverpool FC are reportedly willing to trade Dejan Lovren as a part of a deal for Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly.

Napoli have labeled defender Koulibaly with a transfer fee of $111 million and Liverpool are hoping to get the Serie A side lower the asking price by offering them Lovren.

Liverpool have sealed the 2019-20 Premier League title race with seven matches to spare. After their 4-0 win over Crystal Palace, they needed Chelsea to defeat Manchester City or draw the match at Stamford Bridge. Fortunately for the Reds, Chelsea beat Man City 2-1 and handed Liverpool their 19th league title and first-ever Premier League trophy.

Croatian defender Lovren, who has made just 10 Premier League appearances for Liverpool in the ongoing 2019-20 campaign, has a year remaining on his contract at Anfield. However, he has fallen in the pecking order with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and Joel Matip already delivering for Jurgen Klopp’s side consistently. Even though Klopp has enough options in the defense, he wants to further strengthen it and he expects Koulibaly to be a great addition at Anfield.

Earlier, it was reported that Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has said that the club would turn down any bids of less than $111 million for Koulibaly. It is also understood that the Senegal national team’s captain is also being chased by other big clubs such as Manchester City.

However, by offering Lovren to Napoli, Liverpool are understood to be at pole position in the race to sign Koulibaly, according to the Italian publication Tuttosport.

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk (left) takes a knee as all Premier League players showed their support for the Black Lives Matter campaign POOL / PETER POWELL

If Koulibaly does join Liverpool, he is expected to form a formidable partnership with one of the best defenders at present, Van Dijk, and that would help Liverpool dominate in the coming seasons as well.

After being crowned 2019-20 Premier League champions, Liverpool players returned to training Sunday. They are set to face Man City next in the Premier League and the English champions will get a guard of honor at the Etihad Stadium from last season’s winners.

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