Estonian international defender Ragnar Klavan has revealed that Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker played a role in convincing him to leave the Reds and join Italian Serie A side Cagliari this season.
Klavan had virtually very little chance of first-team action under Jurgen Klopp this season, with the likes of Virgil Van Dijk, Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren and Joe Gomez all above him in the club’s pecking order.
The 32-year-old joined the Reds from FC Augsburg in 2016 and went on to make 53 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring two goals.
He played a bit-part role for the Anfield giants last season, going on to make 28 appearances for the club as they achieved a fourth-placed finish in the League, and reached the final of the Champions League where they lost against Real Madrid.
Considering his age, Klavan made the correct decision to take on a new challenge. There was very little chance that he could have worked his way up Klopp’s pecking order if he had stayed.
Now, Klavan has revealed that he had offers from a number of clubs. He also added that the advice which he received from Mohamed Salah and Alisson convinced him that he should move to the Serie A.
Both Alisson and Salah established themselves as star talents in the Serie A with Roma. Salah arrived at Anfield last summer while Alisson arrived this summer.
Klavan said to Sky Italia as quoted by Goal: “I had offers from several teams, including in other countries, but Cagliari really wanted me,”
“Darijo Srna advised me to come here, as I talked to him via Dejan Lovren. Other Liverpool teammates like Alisson, Salah and Lucas Leiva all spoke highly of Serie A.
“I’m certain we’ll do great things here and I am really fired up. The city is wonderful and so are the fans, I can’t wait to get started.”
