Dejan Lovren

At 34 years old, Dejan Lovren has this physical status:

Club career

Lovren started playing football in Germany with Munich-based BSC Sendling. He played for local clubs NK Ilovac and NK Karlovac as a youth before joining NK Dinamo Zagreb in 2004.

He made his Dinamo debut against NK Varteks on May 10, 2006. Lovren was loaned to NK Inter Zaprei in 2006 for two seasons, scoring one goal and making 50 league appearances. Following his release from loan Lovren, he appeared in 38 games throughout the 2008–09 season and scoring three goals. He appeared in all four of Dinamo's UEFA Champions League qualifiers against Pyunik Yerevan and Red Bull Salzburg in the 2009-10 season, as well as a header against Pyunik Puyunik Bahri.

Lovren signed for French Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais for €8 million plus €1.5 million in incentives on a four-and-a-half year deal in January 2010. He made his competitive debut in the Coupe de France on January 24, 2010, losing 2–1 to AS Monaco in the Coupe de France, and playing the full match. In Lyon's 2–1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Monday, his Ligue 1 debut came on January 31 in a 2–1 victory. He made ten appearances in the second half of the season, most as a replacement. He was not allowed to participate in Lyon's matches in the UEFA Champions League this season because he had already participated in the competition for Dinamo Zagreb.

Following the release of two other defenders, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Mathieu Bodmer, in the summer of 2010, Lovren's playing time increased during the 2010–11 season. He gradually established himself as a first team regular starter, appearing as a right or left fullback, as well as being used as a right or left full back. Lovren was named in the Don Balón list of the top young players in the world in November 2010.

Lovren had been 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 Bakary Koné was called out after 18 minutes.

Lovren signed for Southampton on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee that was estimated at £8.5 million. In a 1–0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on August 17, he made his debut on August 17, 2013. On September 21, 2013, he scored his first goal for Southampton against Liverpool at Anfield, a goal that was not the winner. In a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford on October 19, he assisted Adam Lallana for the equalizing goal against Manchester United. He scored his second league goal in a 2–2 away draw against Sunderland on January 18, 2014, but he was forced to leave the game early in the game and required hospitalization after the match. Lovren, as well as midfielder Gastón Ramrez, would be out for six to eight weeks due to ankle ligament damage on January 23.

Lovren was ranked in Bloomberg Sports' Power 50 list, which gives statistical analyses of players in Europe's top five leagues at the end of his first season in the Premier League. In 31st position, he was the fifth-highest ranked player from the Premier League. Southampton Echo announced on July 25, 2014 that Southampton had agreed a fee for Lovren's transfer request at Southampton, despite much rumors regarding the player's future.

Lovren became Southampton's third transfer window player to join Liverpool after Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana, who joined Southampton on July 27th. He signed a four-year contract for a reported £20 million, making him the most expensive defender in Liverpool's history before Virgil van Dijk joined the club in 2018.

He made his debut in a friendly against Borussia Dortmund at Anfield on August 10, scoring his second goal in a 4–0 victory and making his first appearance in the club's opening game of the Premier League season, playing the full 90 minutes against former club Southampton at Anfield on August 10, 2014. In a fourth round League Cup 2–1 victory over Swansea City, he scored his first official goal for Liverpool on October 28th. However, Lovren was dropped from the first team after his poor showing in a Champions League loss to Basel. Lovren, Liverpool's last penalty shooter, put his effort over the crossbar as they were eliminated from the Europa League's last 32. Lovren was included in a story about the Premier League's 20 worst signings in 2014-15, which remarked on the number of his mistakes that resulted in opposition goals.

Lovren recovered his position in the lineup for the first three games of the 2015–16 season, winning three clean sheets and seven points in a row. Lovren lost his place to Mamadou Sakho after two setbacks to West Ham United and rivals Manchester United in which the defense conceded six goals. In a 2–1 loss at Anfield to Crystal Palace, Sakho was forced to miss two months due to a knee injury. Lovren was stretched out of the field in the 79th minute due to injury and was replaced by Divock Origi in a 2–2 draw against West Bromwich Albion on December 13th. Lovren defeated Borussia Dortmund 4–3 in the Europa League quarterfinals on April 14th. Lovren scored a stoppage-time winning goal. Lovren had been described as having "calm and composed" leader on the pitch by Liverpool Echo, after he had a difficult start to his career at Liverpool.

Lovren's deal with Liverpool ended on April 28, 2017 - until 2021.

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Liverpool 4–1 on October 22, 2017, ending his poor start to the 2017-18 season by Harry Kane and Son Heung-min's early goals. After only half an hour, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was sent home. Lovren scored his first goal of the season on December 17 in a 4–0 victory over Bournemouth; a result that 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. After Virgil van Dijk's arrival on January 1, the two forged a strong alliance at the center of Liverpool's defense. Lovren captained Liverpool for the first time in a 4–3 victory over Manchester City on January 14, 2018. Lovren scored his second goal of the season on May 13 in a 4–0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion, which guaranteed Liverpool's qualification for the Champions League next season. Lovren was instrumental in Liverpool's Champions League run, where the team qualified for the final but then lost it to the reigning champions Real Madrid.

Following the World Cup's return to Lovren in the summer, the latter has been missing in the 2018–19 season. He was called back to the squad for a EFL Cup match against Chelsea, which Liverpool lost 12-0. He scored the first goal in Newcastle United's 4–0 victory over Newcastle United on December 26th. Lovren made a crucial mistake that resulted in Sergio Agüero's opening goal during the match against Manchester City on January 3, 2019. Liverpool lost the match 21-01, snapping their undefeated run in the Premier League. Lovren was injured and substituted for Ki-Jana Hoever six minutes into the FA Cup match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on January 7th. He later departed from the starting eleven for the remainder of the season, leaving Liverpool a single point behind eventual champions Manchester City and winning the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final against Tottenham Hotspur, where he remained an untested substitute. He became the tenth Croatian to win the Champions League in history.

Lovren demanded a transfer during the summer of 2019 because he did not want to be a substitute. Serie A clubs Milan and Roma expressed the greatest curiosity. He was therefore left out of the squad for the 2019 UEFA Super Cup, which Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties. Lovren was back in the squad for an EFL Cup match against MK Dons on September 25th. Following Jol Matip's injury, he continued to solidify his place in the starting lineup. He scored the equalizer in the Champions League group stage match against Napoli on November 27th, resulting in a 1–1 draw. On December 10, he sustained a knee injury in a match against Red Bull Salzburg and was suspended for Joe Gomez. He had to miss the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, which Liverpool defeated Flamengo 1–0 in the final due to his injury. In an FA Cup match against Shrewsbury Town that ended in a 2–2 draw, he rejoined the squad on January 26, 2020 and captained the team. Lovren became the first Croatian to win a Premier League on June 25 after Liverpool finished first place in the 2019-20 Premier League after Liverpool finished second.

Lovren joined Zenit Saint Petersburg on a three-year deal worth €12 million on July 27, 2020, following a six-year spell with Liverpool.

In the 2020 Russian Super Cup against Lokomotiv Moscow, he made his debut for Zenit on August 7th. Zenit took the match by 21-0, meaning Lovren won his first trophy with the club in his first game. In a 0–2 victory over Rotor Volgograd on August 11, he made his league debut on August 11th. In a 0–2 victory over Rostov, he scored his first goal for Zenit. Zenit lost 1–2 to Club Brugge on October 20th, his Champions League debut for the club, as he took a shot outside of the penalty area that sent Ethan Horvath's back into the net. Lovren captained Zenit for the first time in a match against Krasnodar on Sunday, with Artem Dzyuba stripped off captaincy after a clear video depicting him masturbating leaked and went viral. Zenit defeated 3–1 in the closing minutes of the game, winning a penalty that was successfully converted by Aleksei Sutormin. Lovren sustained a muscle injury in preparation ahead of Zenit's league match against Sochi on April 11, 2021. Zenit won the league title in his absence on May 2nd after defeating Lokomotiv Moscow 6–1.

Lovren started the 2021-22 season by winning another Super Cup, defeating Lokomotiv Moscow 3–0 on July 17-19. He made only 19 appearances in the first half of the season, when Zenit won the league for the first time once more due to injuries.

International career

Lovren has made 54 appearances and scored six goals for various Croatian youth national teams. He was given his first call-up to Croatia's national team in August 2009 by manager Slaven Bili, who included the player in his match squad against Belarus. Lovren was an ineffective substitute, but he was still thrilled with the latest opportunity. On November 8, 2009, he made his debut against Qatar, replacing Danijel Pranji as a replacement.

In a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier match against Malta on September 2, Lovren scored his first international goal. He was accepted by manager Slaven Bili in the training camp before to UEFA Euro 2012, but he was not chosen for the final squad due to an injury. In a World Cup qualifier against Wales at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea on March 26, 2013 Lovren scored his second goal for Croatia. After Gareth Bale's death had given Wales the lead from a penalty that Lovren caused, it was an equalizer that leveled the game. Croatia eventually defeated the game 1–2.

Lovren was named in boss Niko Kova's provisional 30-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil in May 2014. Lovren was declared to have fouled Fred in the 69th minute when the score was 1-1 in the tournament's first match against the hosts Brazil in Sao Paulo on June 12th. Brazil's eventual 3–1 victory was owing to a contentious penalty that was converted by Neymar and led to Brazil's eventual 3–1 victory. After a 1–3 loss to Mexico, Croatia was disqualified from the tournament in two separate group stage matches.

Lovren's deteriorating relationship with manager Ante ai culminated in him being dropped from Croatia's squad for UEFA Euro 2016.

In May 2018, he was named in Croatia's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. After Croatia had already qualified for the knockout stage, he had a handball in the penalty box that was converted successfully by Gylfi Sigursson for 1–1. Despite this, Croatia won the match 1–2 and topped their group. He continued to perform throughout the tournament, eventually crashing to France 4–2.

Lovren missed Croatia's debut in the inaugural edition of UEFA's new tournament Nations League on September 11, defeating Spain 6-2 due to injury. He returned a month later for a match against England that ended in a goalless draw. He was involved in Spain's 3–2 loss on November 15th. Lovren caused controversies after posting on Instagram live stream claiming to have deliberately elbowed Spain's defender Sergio Ramos, who had a rivalry in the media prior to the match. Croatia was defeated 1–2 by England on the first day of the Nations League and has been promoted from the League A to the League B.

Lovren was banned from one international match for disrespecting the Spain national team and their flag, as well as Sergio Ramos' deliberate elbowing. He was unable to participate in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier against Azerbaijan because he was unable to participate. In a 0–4 victory over Slovakia over September 6, he scored his third international goal. However, Croatia's results against Azerbaijan and Wales, causing the Croatians to lose four points and postponed the team's qualification for the tournament. Due to three yellow cards, he was suspended for the deciding home match against Slovakia. Croatia also won the match 3–1 and secured their spot in the Euros, despite the fact that they did not win the match 3–1 and secured their spot in the Euros.

Lovren elbowed Patrik Schick and resulted in a draw with the Czech Republic on June 18, 2021, in his first appearance at a UEFA European Championship, a 1–1 draw. Schick converted a penalty.

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