Cagliari Calcio have confirmed the arrival of Liverpool star Ragnar Klavan. The Estonian centre-back has joined the Italian Serie A outfit for a fee of €1.3 million, signing on a two-year contract.
English daily, Mirror earlier reported that the former Augsburg defender could be on the verge of departing Liverpool after head coach Jurgen Klopp had identified Joe Gomez as an ideal long-term solution in the defensive department. And although a few German clubs were interested in having him back in the Bundesliga, Klavan seems happy to have joined Cagliari.
PLAYER PROFILE
A former Augsburg star, Klavan initially made the move from Bundesliga to the Premier League in the summer of 2016. The Estonian defender was coming on the back of an astonishing season with Augsburg and as a result, Liverpool had to churn out €5 million in order to attain his services.
He served as an important backup option for Klopp in the defensive department, often deputizing for the injured first-choice Liverpool centre-backs. But overall, Klavan has been one of the fringe players at Liverpool in the past couple of years, joining the likes of Divock Origi, Simon Mignolet and Danny Ings.
Since arriving at Anfield, his numbers dropped significantly as he only averaged under one interception during the last couple of seasons. He had an average of over 1.5 interceptions per game while in the Bundesliga.
In addition, the defender had also taken a huge hit in his aerial duels won ratio having recorded only 2 per game in the last two seasons – a rather steep drop compared to the 4.6 he managed during the 2014/15 season. Although it is rather unfair to compare the number of clearances due to the stark qualitative differences between Liverpool and Augsburg, Ragnar’s numbers haven’t been convincing in that department either.
WHY IS IT A POSITIVE MOVE FOR LIVERPOOL?
It’s clearly evident from the aforementioned statistics as to why Klavan had fallen down the pecking order in the Liverpool side. And especially following the addition of Virgil Van Dijk earlier this year, the departure of the former Augsburg star will be a blessing for the Reds.
Aside from Van Dijk, the Merseyside giants already boast the likes of Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez in their defensive department. Thus, there is no shortage of options for Klopp as far as his defence is concerned. Although it remains to be seen if he can manage to work on his available options or goes for the jugular again in the next couple of transfer windows.
Either way, Klavan’s level was not in sync with the high-octane Reds anymore and his stay would have simply added to the numbers and the wage bill for starters.
As for the player, a move away from Anfield seems to be a logical decision as well as it will offer him the opportunity to prolong his career for a good amount of time if he can settle into the relatively slower and more tactical Italian league.
Stat courtesy: Whoscored