5 hours ago
1
Dejan Lovren claimed Liverpool missed him more than he missed them after leaving the club.
The 36-year-old centre-back spent six years at Anfield following a £20 million ($27M) transfer from Southampton in 2014. He was the club's most expensive defender until Virgil van Dijk's £75M ($102M) signing four years later.
Lovren joined Liverpool a year before Jurgen Klopp took over as manager and was a regular fixture in the team under Brendan Rodgers, which continued during Klopp's early years on Merseyside.
However, a catalogue of errors, coupled with Van Dijk's arrival, saw the Croatian reduced to a supporting role in his last two seasons, featuring in just 33 matches across all competitions.
Choosing to leave after falling behind Joe Gomez and Joel Matip in the pecking order, Lovren moved to Russian Premier League side Zenit Saint Petersburg for £10.9m, following Liverpool's first ever Premier League victory in 2020.
A year on from his exit, the ex-Croatia international expressed no regret about leaving Anfield, insisting that they suffered more than he did since his absence.
In an interview with Russian outlet Sport Express, he said: "No, I don't regret [leaving]. My decision in the summer was firm - to leave Liverpool, and I do not look back.
"I got upset last season when I didn't play, but now everything is different." The defender revealed he remained in contact with Klopp, who sent him a telling message as he shared: "I think Liverpool miss me more than I miss them and Jurgen Klopp knows this, because we communicate.
"He wrote recently: 'We miss you.' I spoke with Jurgen [after I left], but I will not disclose details. Jurgen said only good things and wished him luck."
After Lovren's departure, Klopp, who himself left Liverpool last summer, penned a heartfelt message reminiscing about his most famous moment in a red shirt.
"Another Liverpool legend who leaves the club, because he was absolutely a very, very important part of this team from the first day since I was in,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com.
"I remember when we played with Dortmund against Liverpool in the pre-season friendly and Dejan scored with a header with incredible power. That was the image I had in my mind when I came here and I thought about the defenders we had at the time.
"He played super games and scored one of the most important goals of our history in the 4-3 against Borussia Dortmund; a really wonderful moment to share."
After spending three years in Russia, the veteran defender returned to Lyon - 13 years after his initial spell with the French club. However, he only spent a year in Ligue 1 before signing for Greek side PAOK, where he made nine appearances last season.
English (US) ·