• Premier League

Lovren gets 'dream' Premier League move

ESPN staff
June 14, 2013
Dejan Lovren made just 68 league appearances in four years at Lyon © PA Photos
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Southampton have signed in-demand Lyon defender Dejan Lovren for £8.5 million.

Also a summer target for Liverpool, the Croatian international centre-back, 23, fell out of favour at the Stade de Gerland, not playing again for the Ligue 1 club following the publication of critical comments he made about the club in the Croatian press in April.

"I've spoken a lot with the Southampton chairman [Nicola Cortese] and the coach [Mauricio Pochettino], and this is a great project," Lovren said after completing his move. "They told me a lot of positive things, and I know the history of the club. It's a big club and I'm very happy that I can be a part of it.

"After three-and-a-half years in France, it was a dream to play in the Premier League. Now the dream has come true. I have it in my mind to do something big, and I see the same thing in the club.

"We are a young team, and I am a young player also so I hope I will stay here for a long time."

Lovren, who was picked up from Dinamo Zagreb in January 2010, still had three seasons left on his Lyon contract. He made 102 appearances for the seven-time Ligue 1 champions, though never managed to pin down a regular first-team place under Remi Garde or his predecessor, Claude Puel.

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