Koeman: No bids for Lovren

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman insists the club have yet to receive an offer from Liverpool for centre-back Dejan Lovren.

Lovren is expected to leave Southampton after publicly admitting he was already thinking about a move to Anfield, while new boss Koeman has previously said the Croatia international could be sold to their Premier League rivals.

However, speaking to Sky Sports News following Southampton’s 1-0 friendly win over Swindon Town on Monday, Koeman confirmed Lovren would be continuing to play for the club.

“We have had no bid from Liverpool for Lovren, that is the situation,” said Koeman.

“If that does not change, he will continue to play at Southampton.

“We know there is a lot of interest in our players, I think that is normal. But we have to wait, we work on the team.”

If Lovren’s move to Liverpool does eventuate, Aston Villa’s Dutch defender Ron Vlaar has been mooted as a possible replacement at the heart of Southampton’s defence.

But Koeman refused to speculate on the Netherlands international: “I know him [Vlaar] from when he was playing at Feyenoord.

“It depends on the [Lovren] situation but we will decide who we bring in. There are a lot of rumours in football and I can do nothing about that.”

Southampton have already sold captain Adam Lallana and striker Rickie Lambert to Liverpool during the off-season, and they coincidently open their 2014-15 Premier League campaign at Anfield on August 17.