Statistically Dejan Lovren has been Southamptons best player this summer with an average rating of 7.41, so it stands to reason that he is the player that is most important to keep. 24-year-old Lovren arrived at the club last summer from Lyon, and as a Croatian international was always likely to be a solid signing. However, Premier League managers are painfully aware that its very easy to spend money, but much harder to get true quality. Nevertheless, Southampton certainly managed to get just that with this signing. Lovren has played a very important part defensively for the club this season by making 2.1 tackles, 2.7 interceptions and 7.8 clearances; these stats certainly underpin the quality that he brings to the team, he has also scored two goals and provided one assist. No central defender in the Premier League this season enjoys a better average rating than Lovren, so his importance to the team is clear. Fans will be hoping that he chooses to carry on his education with the club beyond this summer.
James Kent is a freelance writer published on Yahoo! Sports, Bleacher Report, FTBpro, Bloomberg Sports and many others. He has also been featured in the Daily Telegraph, Zoo Magazine, MSN Sport and the Manchester Evening News.
His role on What Culture is currently to produce compelling football articles that nearly always use of combination of stats and strong opinion. Feel free to connect with James via Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.
