A 30-year Old Defender For Liverpool: The Next Leader Or Blunder By The Reds?

With Liverpool selling Martin Skrtel and not renewing the contract of Kolo Toure this season, the Reds are woefully short on cover for central defenders. Mamadou Sakho seems to have picked up another injury while the only fit defenders for the centre are Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip. The Premier League side are in dire need of some cover, in case a few injuries hit their defence and it seems that Jurgen Klopp has used his German connections to target an experienced central defender in Ragnar Klavan.

The 30-year-old Estonian plays for FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga and he did get a taste of Anfield when the side met Liverpool in the Europa League last season. Klavan was born into a football playing family and his father was a midfielder, which is the position taken up by a young Klavan. The 30-year-old once stated that Zinedine Zidane was his childhood hero.

His professional debut came at a very young age; he was only 15 when he got to play for Elva in 2001. He then had moved to Tulevik and Flora before signing with Heracles Almelo in Holland. His performances caught the attention of AZ Alkmaar and he then moved ship to play for them.

Ragnar won the Eredivisie with AZ before signing with Augsburg in July 2012. The 30-year-old is one of the best exports from Estonian football as he has picked up the Estonian player of the year award thrice, with the last one coming in 2015.

He is expected to seal a £4.2 million move to Anfield and we take a close look to what he can bring to the Reds this season.

An experienced head for Liverpool

The Reds would need someone who has a lot of experience given how two of their stalwarts have left this season and Ragnar is just the player who can do that. He has over 100 caps for Estonia and played in more than 420 club games since his debut, so he is someone who knows what defending is all about.

Ragnar can be seen as another Martin Skrtel type defender who puts his body in the line to ensure the opposition do not get ahead. He also is incredibly good with his passing and he is one of the best passers from the back, though most of his passes are of the short range.

He is great in the air as well, something that is a requirement in the Premier League and with his leadership abilities; he does seem to be a decent signing for the amount of money being spent.

There is one major concern with the central defender and that is his lack of pace, something that would be a problem for the Reds as the opposition could see this as a weak link.

Klavan would not be expected to play too many games for the side as the trio of Dejan Lovren, Mamadou Sakho and Joel Matip would fight for the two spots in the heart of the defence but when he will be called upon, Klavan would do a pretty decent job and who knows, this could be one of the best signings that Klopp makes at Liverpool this summer.