Dejan Lovren has signed a new contract at Liverpool which will run until 2021 despite Jürgen Klopp earmarking Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk as one of his main transfer targets. The deal for Lovren, who was criticised for his performance in last week’s damaging 2-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace, includes an option for Liverpool to extend the terms by another 12 months. The contract is worth just under £100,000 a week. Lovren had two years remaining on his existing deal, signed when he moved to Liverpool from Southampton for £20 million in 2014, and talks recently restarted after previously reaching an impasse. Yet if Klopp is successful in landing Van Dijk — a world-record fee for a defender in excess of £50 million would not…

Source: The Times April 28, 2017 08:01 UTC