Dejan Lovren (; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Lyon.
Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to Lyon in January 2010. He spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Ligue 1 team and won the 2012 Coupe de France before he signed for Southampton in 2013. After one season with Southampton, he joined Liverpool for £20 million. He went on to make 185 appearances for the club, winning the UEFA Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020, before joining Russian champions Zenit Saint Petersburg in July 2020. Within four months, he became the captain of the team, replacing Artem Dzyuba.
Having previously represented Croatia at various youth levels, Lovren made his senior debut in 2009 and went on to make over 70 appearances for his country. He was selected in Croatia's squads for the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 (in which they were beaten finalists against France) and 2022, as well as UEFA Euro 2020.
Early life
Lovren was born to Bosnian Croat parents Silva () and Saša Lovren in Zenica, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina and spent his first years of life in the nearby village of Kraljeva Sutjeska. The family was displaced from their home due to the Bosnian War when Lovren was three years old; they eventually settled in Munich.
His family eventually had to leave as they did not possess necessary documentation to reside in Germany and settled in Karlovac, Croatia, 50 kilometres southwest of the capital city of Zagreb. Lovren stated that he initially found settling in Croatia difficult.
Club career
Dinamo Zagreb
Lovren first played football in Germany with Munich-based BSC Sendling. After moving to Croatia, he played for local teams NK Ilovac and NK Karlovac as a youth before joining NK Dinamo Zagreb in 2004.
On 10 May 2006, he made his debut for Dinamo in a Prva HNL match against NK Varteks. On 17 July 2006, Lovren was loaned to NK Inter Zaprešić for two seasons where he made 50 league appearances and scored one goal. Following his return from loan Lovren regularly featured in Dinamo's starting XI, appearing in 38 matches throughout the 2008–09 season and scoring three goals. In the 2009–10 season, he featured in all four of Dinamo's UEFA Champions League qualifiers against Pyunik Yerevan and Red Bull Salzburg, and managed to score a header against Pyunik.
Lyon
In January 2010, Lovren signed for French Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais for €8 million plus €1.5 million in incentives on a four-and-a-half-year contract. He made his competitive debut on 24 January 2010 in their 2–1 defeat to AS Monaco in the Coupe de France, playing the full match. His Ligue 1 debut came on 31 January in Lyon's 2–1 win at home against Paris Saint-Germain, once again playing the full 90 minutes. During the second half of the season, he made 10 appearances, mostly as a substitute. He was not allowed to participate in Lyon's matches in the UEFA Champions League that season as he had already played in the competition for Dinamo Zagreb.
Lovren's playing time increased during the 2010–11 season following the departure of two other defenders, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Mathieu Bodmer, in the summer of 2010. During the season, he gradually established himself as a first team regular starter, playing as a centre-back alongside Cris as well as being used as a right or left full-back, demonstrating himself as a versatile defender. In November 2010 Lovren was listed in the Don Balón list of the 100 best young players in the world.
On 23 January 2012, Lovren extended his contract 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 was substituted after 18 minutes for Bakary Koné.
Southampton
On 14 June 2013, Lovren signed for Southampton on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, which was estimated at £8.5 million. He made his debut on 17 August 2013, in a 1–0 win against West Bromwich Albion. He scored his first goal for Southampton against Liverpool at Anfield on 21 September 2013, a goal which proved to be the winner. On 19 October, he assisted Adam Lallana for the equalising goal against Manchester United in a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford. He added a second league goal in a 2–2 away draw against Sunderland on 18 January 2014, but was stretchered off late in the game and required hospital treatment after the match. On 23 January, it was announced that along with midfielder Gastón Ramírez, Lovren would be out for six-to-eight weeks with ankle ligament damage.