Dejan Lovren has spoken about the psychological and physical implications being in quarantine has had on footballers and himself.
In comments we think might receive some negative backlash â as often with the Croatâs interviews â Lovren has explained how heâll need time off this summer at some point before next season â and that the current âbreakâ shouldnât count as a holiday.
He is being paid hundreds of thousands every week to stay at his mansion, so we think the comments are a little insensitive to the national situation â although his intentions are not in any way bad and heâs just explaining his personal situation.
âIt hasnât been easy as we have been locked up in our homes for 46 days now,â Lovren told Croatian newspaper Sportske Novisti, cited in Sky Sports.
âThe psychological aspect is the most difficult to overcome. I work out on my own as much as I can, I kick the ball around a bit with my son on our lawn, but training with the team is totally different.
âI try to stay motivated any way I can. I get up in the morning and tell myself âI am going to get knackered in training todayâ and at least Iâve managed to lose some weight,â added Lovren.
âI hope Aleksander Ceferin and all the other people from UEFA and FIFA will come up with a solution so that we donât get into a situation of having to play 15 games in 30 days,â he added.
âWe need time off. This hasnât really been time off because the players will need to recover mentally from the pandemic and the resultant quarantine.â
Lovrenâs future at Liverpool is uncertain, as heâs currently fourth-choice in the pecking order and in his thirties.
As a result, heâd perhaps like a switch to play more minutes, and thereâll be no shortage of suitors for a player whoâs played in a World Cup Final and a Champions League Final.
But COVID-19 is likely to have a big impact on the transfer market, and it might be the case that Liverpool chose to keep hold of him and offload in the future when the state of football is more certain.