Dejan Lovren Reveals How He's Helping Fellow Ex-Saints Star Virgil van Dijk Settle at Liverpool
Dejan Lovren has revealed how he is helping Virgil van Dijk 'settle well' into life as Liverpool's newest big-money arrival.
The Netherlands international completed a £75m transfer to Anfield in the January window, and has immediately set about impressing Reds fans with his dominant displays at the back.
Lovren is no stranger to making the journey from the south coast up to Merseyside and, speaking to the Liverpool Echo, explained how he was using his own experience to help Van Dijk become acclimatised to his new surroundings.
The duo shone at the back in the 5-0 rout of Porto in the Champions League in Liverpool's last match, and Lovren also admitted his surprise at how well they pair had struck up a partnership.
He said: “To be honest I didn't expect that we would be so quick [to settle] together, but when you are a top centre-back I think it is normal and Virgil is one of them. Of course he needs some time to adapt because Southampton to Liverpool is different.
"But he understands what the manager wants, although sometimes I have to remind him also. I help him as much as I can. It is a difficult period sometimes to adapt but he is managing it quite well.
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"Everyone is behind him and giving him support and he did brilliant against Porto. Everyone did from the back line and the midfield – I don't need to talk about the strikers."
That stunning away win over one of Portugal's best teams has led to pundits giving Liverpool a huge chance of lifting UEFA's trophy come the end of the season.
Lovren played his part in Sadio Mane's opening goal on the night against Porto, and he added that it was imperative that everyone mucked in to perform at the levels that manager Jurgen Klopp intends them to.
He said: “We are a team who like to play high pressure. I think we did it quite well from the first goal.
"It started from their goalkeeper, I came to win it and it went to Gini [Wijnaldum]. He tried to shoot and then it was Mane's goal.
"This is what we need. The main point was that we managed the game all the time. Porto have quality players but they only had a couple of chances. It was deserved, a quality win."