Dinamo Zagreb Lovren first played football in Germany with Munich-based
BSC Sendling. After moving to Croatia, he played for local teams NK Ilovac and
NK Karlovac as a youth before joining
NK Dinamo Zagreb in 2004. On 10 May 2006, he made his debut for Dinamo in a
Prva HNL match against
NK Varteks. On 17 July 2006, Lovren was loaned to
NK Inter Zaprešić for two seasons where he made 50 league appearances and scored one goal. Following his return from loan Lovren regularly featured in Dinamo's starting XI, appearing in 38 matches throughout the
2008–09 season and scoring three goals. In the
2009–10 season, he featured in all four of Dinamo's
UEFA Champions League qualifiers against
Pyunik Yerevan and
Red Bull Salzburg, and managed to score a header against Pyunik.
Lyon in 2010 In January 2010, Lovren signed for French
Ligue 1 club
Olympique Lyonnais for €8 million plus €1.5 million in incentives on a four-and-a-half-year contract. He made his competitive debut on 24 January 2010 in their 2–1 defeat to
AS Monaco in the
Coupe de France, playing the full match. His Ligue 1 debut came on 31 January in Lyon's 2–1 win at home against
Paris Saint-Germain, once again playing the full 90 minutes. During the second half of the season, he made 10 appearances, mostly as a substitute. He was not allowed to participate in Lyon's matches in the UEFA Champions League that season as he had already played in the competition for Dinamo Zagreb. Lovren's playing time increased during the
2010–11 season following the departure of two other defenders,
Jean-Alain Boumsong and
Mathieu Bodmer, in the summer of 2010. During the season, he gradually established himself as a first team regular starter, playing as a
centre-back alongside
Cris as well as being used as a right or left full-back, demonstrating himself as a versatile defender. In November 2010 Lovren was listed in the
Don Balón list of the 100 best young players in the world. On 23 January 2012, Lovren extended his contract with Lyon for two more seasons, signing with the French club until 2016. He started for Lyon in the
2012 Coupe de France Final, a 1–0 win over
Quevilly, but was substituted after 18 minutes for
Bakary Koné.
Southampton On 14 June 2013, Lovren signed for
Southampton on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, which was estimated at £8.5 million. He made his debut on 17 August 2013, in a 1–0 win against
West Bromwich Albion. He scored his first goal for Southampton against
Liverpool at
Anfield on 21 September 2013, a goal which proved to be the winner. On 19 October, he assisted
Adam Lallana for the equalising goal against
Manchester United in a 1–1 draw at
Old Trafford. He added a second league goal in a 2–2 away draw against
Sunderland on 18 January 2014, but was stretchered off late in the game and required hospital treatment after the match. On 23 January, it was announced that along with midfielder
Gastón Ramírez, Lovren would be out for six-to-eight weeks with ankle ligament damage. At the conclusion of his first season in the
Premier League, Lovren was named in
Bloomberg Sports' Power 50 list, which provides statistical rankings of performances from players in
Europe's top five leagues. He was the fifth-highest ranked player from the Premier League in 31st position. After much speculation regarding Lovren's future following the departures of Adam Lallana,
Luke Shaw and
Rickie Lambert from Southampton,
Liverpool Echo reported on 25 July 2014 that Southampton had agreed a fee with Liverpool for the sale of Lovren, who was set to undergo a medical at the
Merseyside club after reportedly handing in a transfer request at Southampton.
Liverpool On 27 July 2014, Lovren became the third Southampton player that transfer window to join Liverpool, after Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana. He signed a four-year deal for a reported fee of £20 million, becoming the most expensive defender in Liverpool's history until
Virgil van Dijk joined the club in 2018. On 10 August 2014 he made his debut in a friendly for Liverpool against
Borussia Dortmund at Anfield, scoring the second goal in a 4–0 victory, and made his competitive debut on 17 August in the club's opening game of the Premier League season, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win over former club Southampton at Anfield. He scored his first official goal for Liverpool on 28 October, when he headed in the game-winner from a free-kick in a fourth round
League Cup 2–1 victory over
Swansea City. However, following his poor performance in a
Champions League defeat to
Basel, Lovren was dropped from the first team. As the last penalty taker, Lovren put his attempt over the crossbar as Liverpool lost in a
penalty shootout to
Beşiktaş on 26 February 2015 as they were eliminated from the last 32 of the
Europa League. The
Telegraph website included Lovren in a feature about the
2014–15 Premier League's 20 worst signings which remarked on the number of his errors that resulted in opposition goals. Lovren regained his place in the lineup for the first three games of the
2015–16 season and performed well securing three clean sheets and seven points. However, following a pair of defeats to
West Ham United and rivals Manchester United in which the defence conceded six goals, Lovren again lost his place to
Mamadou Sakho. On 8 November he came on as a substitute for Sakho in a 2–1 defeat to
Crystal Palace at Anfield, with Sakho sustaining a knee injury that ruled him out for two months. On 13 December, in a 2–2 draw against West Bromwich Albion, Lovren was stretchered off the pitch in the 79th minute due to injury and was replaced by
Divock Origi. The following 14 April, Lovren scored a stoppage-time winning goal in a 4–3
Europa League quarter-final win over Borussia Dortmund. Having endured a difficult start to his career at Liverpool, by the end of the 2015–16 season under
Jürgen Klopp, Lovren was described as having transformed into a "calm and composed" leader on the pitch by
Liverpool Echo. On 28 April 2017, Lovren extended his contract with Liverpool, until 2021. He had a rocky start to the
2017–18 season, being at fault for
Harry Kane and
Son Heung-min's early goals as
Tottenham Hotspur defeated Liverpool 4–1 on 22 October 2017. He was substituted for
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after only half an hour. On 17 December, Lovren scored his first goal of the season in a 4–0 win over
Bournemouth; a result which saw Liverpool become the first team in Premier League history to win four consecutive away league matches by a margin of at least three goals. After Virgil van Dijk's arrival on 1 January, he and Lovren built a steady partnership at the heart of Liverpool's defence. On 14 January 2018, Lovren
captained Liverpool for the first time in a 4–3 win against
Manchester City. On 13 May, Lovren scored his second goal of the season in a 4–0 win over
Brighton and Hove Albion, which secured Liverpool's qualification for the
Champions League next season. Lovren, as well, played a significant role in Liverpool's
Champions League run, where the team reached the
final, but eventually lost it to the ruling champions
Real Madrid. . Lovren entered the
2018–19 season injured following that summer's
World Cup. He returned to the squad for an
EFL Cup match against
Chelsea that Liverpool lost 1–2. On 26 December, he scored the opening goal in the 4–0 win over
Newcastle United. During the match against Manchester City on 3 January 2019, Lovren made a crucial error that lead to
Sergio Agüero's opening goal. Liverpool lost the match 2–1 and ending their unbeaten run in the
Premier League. Six minutes into the
FA Cup game against
Wolverhampton Wanderers on 7 January, Lovren got injured and substituted for
Ki-Jana Hoever. He subsequently lost his spot in the starting eleven playing only two full games for the remainder of the season, as Liverpool lost the Premier League by a single point behind eventual champions Manchester City and won the
2019 UEFA Champions League Final against Tottenham Hotspur where he remained an unused substitute. He became the tenth Croatian in history to win the Champions League. During the summer 2019, Lovren demanded a transfer since he did not want to be a substitute. The strongest interest was expressed by
Serie A clubs
Milan and
Roma. He was therefore left out of the squad for
2019 UEFA Super Cup, which Liverpool won beating Chelsea on penalties. Lovren returned to the squad for an
EFL Cup match against
MK Dons on 25 September. He went on to solidify his spot in the starting XI following
Joël Matip's injury. On 27 November, he scored the equalizer in the
Champions League group stage match against
Napoli, that ended as a 1–1 draw. However, on 10 December, he suffered a knee injury in a game against Red Bull Salzburg and was substituted for
Joe Gomez. The injury forced him to miss the
2019 FIFA Club World Cup, which Liverpool won beating
Flamengo 1–0 in the
final. He returned on 26 January 2020 and captained the team in an
FA Cup game against
Shrewsbury Town that ended as a 2–2 draw. On 25 June, Lovren became the first Croatian to win a Premier League after Liverpool finished first place in the
2019–20 Premier League.
Zenit Saint Petersburg trophy with Zenit On 27 July 2020, Lovren signed for
Zenit Saint Petersburg on a three-year contract for €12 million after a six-year spell with Liverpool. He debuted for Zenit on 7 August in the
2020 Russian Super Cup against
Lokomotiv Moscow. The match ended as a 2–1 victory for Zenit, meaning that Lovren won his first trophy with the club in his first game. He made his
league debut on 11 August, in a 0–2 win over
Rotor Volgograd. Four days later, he scored his first goal for Zenit in a 0–2 victory over
Rostov. On 20 October, in his
Champions League debut for the club, he took a shot from outside of the
penalty area which deflected off
Ethan Horvath's back into the net, as Zenit lost 1–2 to
Club Brugge. On 8 November, Lovren captained Zenit for the first time in a match against
Krasnodar, due to
Artem Dzyuba being stripped off captaincy after an explicit video depicting him
masturbating leaked and went viral. In the closing minutes of the game, he won a penalty which was successfully converted by
Aleksei Sutormin, as Zenit won 3–1. Ahead of Zenit's
league match against
Sochi, played on 11 April 2021, Lovren suffered a muscle injury in training. In his absence, on 2 May, Zenit won the league title after thrashing Lokomotiv Moscow 6–1. Lovren started the
2021–22 season by winning another
Super Cup, beating Lokomotiv Moscow 3–0 on 17 July. Due to injuries, he made only 19 appearances during the first half of the season, as Zenit won the
league once again.
Return to Lyon On 2 January 2023, Lovren returned to France to re-join Lyon on a two-and-a-half-year contract, almost ten years after he had first left the club.
PAOK On 16 September 2024, Lovren joined
Super League club
PAOK on a two-year deal. ==International career==