Dejan Lovren insists he leaves Liverpool with no regrets, despite admitting to tears during "bad moments" at the club.
Liverpool announced on Monday, on what was his sixth anniversary of signing for the club, that Lovren had completed a move to Zenit Saint Petersburg.
The Croatian defender scored eight goals in 185 appearances for Liverpool across all competitions and was a member of the squad that clinched Liverpool's sixth Champions League crown last term and a first Premier League title this season.
Lovren eventually fell behind Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez in Jurgen Klopp's defensive pecking order at Anfield and also received criticism throughout his Liverpool career for a number of costly errors.
However, the 31-year-old insists the decision to leave Anfield was not an easy one, believing he could not have given more to the club.
"It was a big decision in my life, in the end," Lovren told Liverpool's official website. "I have kids who are going to school there, I made a lot of friends in Liverpool and I’m not the type of player who wants to change every couple of years [to] somewhere else.
"But it was a decision that I took with an open heart and a clear mind. It was tough. But I think it was the right decision to go [out] on the top and look later on and tell myself it’s a good decision.
"I think I gave everything for the club, I don’t know if I could maybe give much more; I always gave everything, 100 per cent on the pitch.
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"I have no regrets for anything that happened, even with some mistakes, with tears, with bad moments, bad games – everything happened for a reason. And it just made it even better now. So, I think I can be proud of everything."
Lovren also spoke of his "big friendship" with Mohamed Salah, insisting the forward can call him at any time despite his Liverpool exit.
"I don’t want to show too many emotions because I’ve already been crying before the last game," he added. "They saw that I felt the emotions.
"Especially also leaving Mo, my good friend. It was something special but like I always said, it’s just the beginning of a big friendship, even when we’ll be far apart.
"He knows he can always call me for whatever reason, I’m always here for him. It’s not just Mo, it’s all the people at the club – the staff, medical staff.
"We’ve been like a big family, and this is why Liverpool is so big: because we care for each other. I wish everyone good luck and I want that they stay healthy. We will always be in touch."
