He served a purpose at Liverpool but was never really going to be first choice.
Liverpool have sold Ragnar Klavan to Italian side Cagliari, and for an up-front fee.
Ragnar Klavan has completed a permanent transfer to Serie A side @CagliariCalcio: https://t.co/Xk3hg1VUTy
Everybody at #LFC wishes Ragnar the best of luck for the future. 🔴 pic.twitter.com/akVDNLllWF
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 17, 2018
The Estonian joined Liverpool in 2016 from Ausburg, for £4.5m, and was an exemplary servant at the club, filling in at centre-back when called upon and performing to the highest standard possible, given his limited skill-set.
Klavan has signed a two year contract with Cagliari, keeping him at the club until 2020. The Italians were not the only club to ask after a loan agreement but Liverpool held firm and they stumped up €2m.
In the two years he spent at Anfield, the 32-year-old played 52 matches for Liverpool (36 starts), scoring two goals yet never truly convincing fans that he was more than a squad player.
The transfer happens just hours after Jurgen Klopp warned European clubs against trying to sign Liverpool players on the cheap after the closure of the transfer window in England.
“I said it before, that’s a bit of the problem of the transfer window, we close in England and the whole of Europe was waiting for that moment and start now trying for dumping prices to get good football players,” Klopp said.
“Nobody should think that (with Liverpool). That will not happen. We are not in a situation [of] financial need where we have to do that.
“I want to have a very good squad together and the more players the better but I really think that we could give a few players the opportunity but we have to see how many, there’s no number in my mind.”
With several transfer windows across Europe (Germany, Spain, Holland and Scotland, to name four) remaining open a while yet, this may not be the end of players leaving Liverpool. Dominic Solanke, Simon Mignolet and Marko Grujić may all yet leave by the end of August.
