NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA - Wednesday, July 24, 2019: Liverpool's Dejan Lovren waves to supporters after a friendly match between Liverpool FC and Sporting Clube de Portugal at the Yankee Stadium on day nine of the club's pre-season tour of America. The game ended in a 2-2 draw. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Liverpool ‘accept’ Roma’s latest offer for Dejan Lovren – with announcement set for coming days

Liverpool are claimed to have accepted AS Roma’s loan-to-buy offer for Dejan Lovren, with confirmation expected “in a few days” after details are finalised.

EDIT: Since publishing, new reports have emerged via Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano that AS Roma have agreed a loan deal with Man United for Chris Smalling. Such a move may well call into question any proposed switch for Lovren.

Lovren has long been the subject of interest from Roma, but the Reds were reported to have cancelled talks with the Serie A side earlier in August.

This came after a formal offer for a permanent transfer failed to emerge, with the club seemingly frustrated with a lack of progress between the two parties.

But speculation has continued, and according to Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti, Liverpool accepted the latest bid from Roma on Tuesday, which will see the 30-year-old head out on an initial loan spell.

The deal will include an obligation to buy, with the fee speculated as between the €13 million and €20 million valuations set by either club.

It is claimed the contract between Liverpool and Roma is “still being discussed,” with the sticking point at this stage being “the number of matches Lovren has to play for Roma in order to activate the option of obligatory purchase.”

This, however, should be agreed “in the next three to four days,” which would see the Croatia international make the move to Italy before the close of the transfer window on September 2.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Wednesday, July 11, 2018: Croatia's Dejan Lovren celebrates after the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Semi-Final match between Croatia and England at the Luzhniki Stadium. Croatia won 2-1 after extra-time. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Lovren’s move to Roma is seen as “good news” in his homeland, as “when playing on a continuous basis, Dejan is one of the world’s best stoppers.”

The reality on Merseyside, though, is that injuries and inconsistent form have made him expendable as Joel Matip and Joe Gomez cement themselves as Virgil van Dijk‘s rotating partners.

The form of Matip in particular has distanced Lovren from the first team, with the Reds now expected to hand their No. 32 a new long-term contract.

It is questionable whether Liverpool should be allowing Lovren to leave with no replacement brought in, but the likes of Fabinho, Ki-Jana Hoever and Sepp van den Berg are considered as alternatives.