The Croatian defender has spent six years at Anfield, but many fans are battling with how he should be remembered.
Hero?
Dejan Lovren has split Anfield crowds for as long as he’s been at Liverpool. From an awful first season with the club to keeping Cristiano Ronaldo in his pocket during the 2018 Champions League final, Degsy has seen it all.
His 10.9 million pound move was confirmed earlier in the week, wrote the Guardian, and the World Cup finalist will now spend three years in Russia after finalising a contract.
Lovren made 15 appearances this season but the last 12 months have followed the pattern of his career. He was bad, then really good, then absolutely awful and then injured.
Villain?
For a stretch of six unbeaten games, Lovren was the first choice partner for Virgil van Dijk and the pair shepherded Liverpool through some rocky waters as the team beat Tottenham and Manchester City. A potentially tricky Merseyside derby wasn’t just negotiated, it was made to grovel at the feet of this side.
That all ended as quickly as it began and we were left wondering if the time Lovren was better than Joe Gomez was all a nasty dream. Injury halted his campaign in its tracks and allowed Gomez to come back into the side and make the position his own.
In-between?
One more appearance against Everton was awful and the narrative had switched once again.
But Lovren is also responsible for some magnificent moments. He scored the header to beat Borussia Dortmund in that mental Europa League game and he always trained hard. It’s no small fact that him and Adam Lallana have been given heroes send-offs, while Nathaniel Clyne was allowed to sneak away like a thief in the night.
In the end, this was a player who gave his all and was always professional. He was capable of mixed moments, but always displayed a human side to his game. Lovren will depart neither a hero nor a villain but time will soften opinions and he’ll always be held in fine esteem.