Liverpool are reportedly close to securing a deal for Augsburg’s Ragnar Klavan as they look to address their defensive crisis.
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He then spent seven seasons in the Netherlands’ top flight with Heracles Almelo and AZ, winning the Eredivisie title with the latter under Louis van Gaal in 2008/09 after joining on loan in January ahead of a permanent summer switch.
Since returning to training on July 2, the squad have been put through a punishing regime in addition to a fixture list that saw them beat Wigan 2-0 yesterday with goals from Danny Ings and 16-year-old Ben Woodburn. The Estonian global has since gone on to make 125 Bundesliga appearances for Augsburg over four years, and has been a regular starter for the club.
The defender came up against Liverpool in the Europa League round of 32 last season, keeping a clean sheet in Germany before losing the second leg at Anfield 1-0 through a James Milner penalty.
Liverpool play Huddersfield in a friendly match on Wednesday night, but it is unlikely that Klavan would be involved in that even if he were to sign in time.
However, Klavan is comfortable with the ball at his feet, too.
“This is the point where you need to get through this hard time and when you are getting through the two or three minutes – it doesn’t last long, but it’s quite hard”.
Jurgen Klopp has made signing another experienced centre-back a priority this summer after losing both Mamadou Sakho and Joe Gomez to serious Achilles injuries over the past week.
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Klavan once had a trial with Sunderland as a youngster, but didn’t end up making the move to the Stadium of Light.
