According to Italian outlet, La Gazetta, AC Milan have rekindled their interest in Reds defender Dejan Lovren, but are concerned about the reported €20-25 million price tag the club have placed on him.
Milan are intimating that they want the Reds to lower their asking price for the 29-year-old before they entertain the idea of entering into negotiations for his signature.
Former Croatia midfielder, Zvonimir Boban (now Chief Operating Officer of AC Milan), together with the club’s new Technical Director, Paolo Maldini, and recently appointed Sporting Director, Frederic Massara, are entering the market as they look to strengthen the Italian giants for the upcoming season.
The report also claims that Lovren – who only made 18 appearances for Jürgen Klopp due to injury and the performances of Joël Matip – could find “new stimulus” by putting himself on the market.
Maldini Milan’s new technical director is looking for new players and his ‘dream’ is Dejan Lovren, who may be willing to leave since he has lost a spot in the starting eleven. The price £22M is a problem for Milan but they could soon find the money through sales. [@Gazzetta_it] pic.twitter.com/H4XmDtbVUN
— LFC Transfer Room (@LFCTransferRoom) July 1, 2019
That said, it does not seem that he will pushed towards a summer exit; in terms of fourth-choice centre-backs, Klopp would be hard pressed to find one with the same quality as Lovren.
Meanwhile, The Mirror report that Lovren’s representatives have met with officials from Milan as they talk up a potential summer move for the Reds centre-back – Calciomercato also back up this claim.
I Rossoneri have already shown interest in signing Lovren this summer, but are yet to follow up their interest with any kind of formal approach for the Croatia international.
The Serie A side are also on the hunt for a new manager after Gennaro Gattuso left Milan and have recently been banned from competing in the Europa League for the upcoming season.
Incontro in sede tra la dirigenza del #Milan e Predrag #Mijatovic che lavora da intermediario con Vlado Lemic, famoso agente che gestisce tanti croati, tra gli altri Lovren, Modric, Matic etc.
Lavori in corso in sede… @milannewsit pic.twitter.com/3ywQlmSEAq— Antonio Vitiello (@AntoVitiello) July 1, 2019
After losing out on Ozan Kabak who has instead signed for Schalke, the three have seemingly, already landed the €20 million arrival of Real Madrid left-back Theo Hernandez to improve their backline.
The departures of stalwart right-back Ignazio Abate and 32-year-old centre-back Cristián Zapata seem to have forced Milan’s hand as they try to reinforce their defence.
Milan have a reported a €40-45 million budget to invest this summer, but remains to be seen whether they would part with a significant amount of that sum to add Lovren to their ranks.