Welcome to our newest Red: Dejan Lovren

Liverpool have finally addressed the defense. It may have cost them £20 million which is steep for a player who may not start, but there is a lot to like with Lovren. He is possibly the best central defender in the side when on the ball, and it's not like Agger and Sakho are slouches in that department. He is confident and assured defensively and can step up as a leader for this team especially if his arrival pushed out Agger.

I'm personally not incredibly thrilled with signing another player who primarily played left centre back last year, but he's shown the ability to play both centre back positions and I imagine he'll primarily play on the right here alongside Sakho or perhaps Agger. If Agger moves on to Barcelona, then Lovren's versatility becomes very useful as he can slide over to back up Sakho with Skrtel stepping back into the lineup as the 3rd centre back. Lovren also has experience covering at left-back but he is probably not enough of an offensive weapon at fullback to feature there for Rodgers in too many fixtures next season.

What we know is Brendan Rodgers has made Lovren his top defensive target, being willing to go as high as £20 million for him when Liverpool have apparently been unwilling to pay such a sum for Alberto Moreno. It makes a lot of sense, Lovren is a theoretical great fit for Rodgers due to the aforementioned ball skills which Skrtel certainly lacks despite his strong overall performance last season. Liverpool are in a position to overpay slightly for a player they desperately want. I wish they'd overpay for a left-back but that's another conversation, and due to the team being flush with cash post-Suarez this Lovren signing shouldn't affect a fullback hunt.

I'm optimistic that the Lovren-Sakho partnership will be a solid foundation for years to come, and if that happens this deal won't feel like an overpay. There is also the fact that he wants to be a Liverpool player so badly he's gone on strike this preseason. That is slightly concerning of course, as he could decide next season that he likes Barcelona or Real Madrid. However, for now he is happy to be here and hopefully he stays that way and contributes to a better defensive effort and perhaps a happier ending to this season for Liverpool.