Liverpool and Croatian defender Dejan Lovren (pictured left with his wife) missed the Euro 2016 tournament after he found out his wife and mother of his two children was having an affair with a forestry worker, a man named Dario Torbic (pictured right with Anita Lovren), an old friend of Anitas who earns about £200-a-month.

Lovren (pictured with Anita and their son), who joined Liverpool for £20million in 2014 and earns £65,000-a-month, is said to be said and embarrassed when the discovered the affair but has refused to give up on his marriage. He reportedly whisked his wife away for a make or break holiday in June, determined to make his marriage to the mother of his two children work.

According to the Sun UK, Dejan and Anita have been together since they were 16 but have recently been having issues.

Anita and Dario pictured above

The affair started when his wife, 26, and Dario met up last December in their home city of Zagreb. Anita persuaded Dario to fly to England and they got together at a Liverpool hotel after which they swapped hundreds of love messages.

She left her home in England with Lovren in March to return to her homeland and, The Sun on Sunday understands, went to see a divorce lawyer.

Anita told £200-a-month Dario, who lives in a rented flat, that they would be together.

A source said: “Dejan and Anita’s marriage has been rocky for some time and she sought refuge with her old friend Dario. They had a whirlwind affair and she told Dario she loved him. She told him she would move back to Zagreb and was thinking of divorcing Dejan. She convinced him she would do it. But when Dejan found out he hit the roof.

“He was really hurt at her infidelity. It hurt his pride. He admitted he had not been the best ­husband but he provided a nice home and life for her and their two young children.”

“It hurt his pride and affected his football. It’s usually footballers cheating on Wags, not the other way round.”

Anita eventually decided to ditch her lover and rejoin Lovren in England at the family’s home with their children Elena, three, and Josip, one.

She and Lovren had first got together at 16, moving to France in 2010 when he transferred from Dinamo Zagreb to Lyon.

They are thought to have split for a short time but reconciled when she found out she was pregnant. They tied the knot so she would not give birth out of wedlock. Source: UK Sun