Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren is reportedly 'ready to accept' a transfer away from the club, with AS Roma stepping up their interest.
The Croatian centre-back is no longer first choice at Anfield, with the colossal Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all ahead of him in the defensive pecking order.
As a result, he is thought to be considering his future at the club as he wants to be playing regularly from the start. Now, he could be offered a way out of the club by Roma - whose interest in Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld has cooled after the expiry of a £25m release clause that had been written into his contract.
Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) claim that Lovren is open to moving to Italy, and Liverpool may be willing to lower their original valuation of €20m, because of the good relationship they have with I Giallorossi.
The Reds signed goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who won the Premier League Golden Glove in his first season, for €72m last summer, with negotiations between the two parties more than amicable at all times.
As a result. their is a feeling of goodwill between the two clubs - and should Lovren wish to pursue a move to Rome, it's unlikely that Liverpool will stand his way.
A deal, however, is not that straight forward, with the report suggesting that Alderweireld is still Roma's preferred option. Spurs are unlikely to accept a cut price move for the Belgian, even though II Messaggero (also via Sport Witness) claim that one final offer will be made by Paulo Fonseca's side before the Premier League transfer window closes on August 8.
Should that fail, Lovren will be firmly in Roma's crosshairs - and a deal could be done that would allow the beaten World Cup finalist to play regularly once more.
Source : 90min