Dejan Lovren has completed his transfer from Liverpool to Russian club Zenit St Petersburg, bringing to an end a six-year spell at Anfield that concluded with the Premier League title this season.
Lovren was a £20m buy from Southampton in the summer of 2014 after only season with the Saints and Liverpool are now believed to have sold him on for around £11m.
Dejan Lovren is a Zenit player! ?
— FC Zenit in English✨ (@fczenit_en) July 27, 2020
More ➡️ https://t.co/bf7ILb2BOG pic.twitter.com/MnFZF5pXJZ
Lovren has signed a three-year contract with Zenit, who were recently crowned Russian Premier League champions for the sixth time overall, retaining the title they won in 2018/19.
The 31-year-old Croatian appeared 185 times for Liverpool in all competitions, although he became more of a bit-part player after 2018 as a result of injuries, coupled with the emergence of Joe Gomez as the long-term defensive partner alongside Virgil van Dijk.
Aside from the Premier League title, Lovren won the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup with Liverpool. He also played in the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid and the 2016 Europa League final against Sevilla.
A statement from the Reds read: “Everybody at Liverpool Football Club would like to thank Dejan for his contribution over the years and wish him all the very best in his new challenge.”
Zenit have gained automatic passage to the next season’s Champions League group stage by virtue of their title win and Lovren joins a squad that includes former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, Iranian forward Sardar Azmoun and a number of South American talents.
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Source : 90min