OK
Had a little while to digest the exciting news, and I do genuinely mean, exciting.
Read the article you shared 'SaintRachel' and found it really interesting, especially the reference to monetary rewards for simply being in the English Premier League!
"The Premier League’s new TV deal, kicking in this coming season, is worth £3billion over 3 years, up 71% on the current deal. The team that finishes bottom of the league will earn £60.6m. Just for taking part. And that’s without even taking into account the lucrative figures for overseas TV rights. By comparison, Manchester United were awarded £60.8m for winning the damn thing not two months ago."
So, really not concerned about the amount of money spent.
A few things come to mind as I skip through Lyon statistics, and browse Lovren's contribution last season ...
The three times he was dismissed, it would appear that on two occasions it was in the last minute / injury time, and twice as a result of making a professional foul or last ditch effort - conceding a penalty on both occasions. Don't think this means he is an overly 'dirty' player with a dodgy temperament.
A lot of focus has been put on his falling out with the management, and how he was responsible for goals conceded prior to being left out for the remainder of last season ...
The games against Bastia and Sochaux in particular, came in a two week period where Lovren had played four games and travelled twice for international duty.
In the drubbing against Bastia, THREE of the four midfielders were substituted, which suggests to me that players in other departments weren't cutting it that day, and not just Lovren?
So all things considered ...
We have another very young player, who is an established international with club experience at the highest level, for what appears today, to be a drop in the ocean financially. What's not to like?
With regard to who might be on the way out, I found this statistic interesting ( especially given that quite a few wondered whether Fonte would be off the Premiership pace ) ...
With Fonte playing SAINTS won just 15% of their games and lost 50%
Without Fonte playing SAINTS won 44% of their games and lost only 25%
It's maybe also noteworthy that Fox's statistics don't make for pretty reading either!
And just for reference, Yoshida's presence makes for good reading, as does Shaw's, obviously.
That said, you can't make a call purely on those figures alone, I admit.