Ragnar Klavan

Ragnar Klavan (born 30 October 1985) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Liverpool and the Estonia national team. A left-footed centre-back, he has also played as a left-back during his career.

He played for Elva, Tulevik and Flora in Estonia, winning the Meistriliiga with Flora in the 2003 season, before moving to the Netherlands where he represented Heracles Almelo and AZ, winning the Eredivisie with the latter in the 2008–09 season. In 2012, he transferred to FC Augsburg and spent four seasons in the Bundesliga before his move to Liverpool in July 2016 for €5 million.

Klavan made his international debut for Estonia in 2003, and became captain in 2012. In 2015, he became the ninth player to make 100 appearances for Estonia, and is currently the sixth highest capped Estonian player of all time. Klavan has won the Estonian Footballer of the Year award four times, in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Klavan was born on 30 October 1985 in Viljandi, Estonia to Tiina and Dzintar Klavan. His father was a professional footballer who played as a midfielder and represented the Estonia national team. Klavan also started playing football as a midfielder; later stating that Zinedine Zidane was his childhood hero.

Tulevik

Klavan made his senior league debut in 2001, at the age of 15, playing for Tulevik's reserve team Elva in the II liiga. He joined Tulevik's first team in 2002 and made his Meistriliiga debut on 31 March 2002 against Levadia. While at Tulevik, he had a trial with Sunderland, but was not offered a contract.

Flora

In July 2003, Klavan moved to Flora. He made his debut for the club on 11 July 2003 against TVMK, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute and scoring on 85th minute in Flora's 4–4 away draw. Klavan won the 2003 Meistriliiga with Flora.

Vålerenga (loan)

On 31 August 2004, Klavan signed for Vålerenga on a three-month loan from Flora. Klavan made his debut for the club on 19 September 2004, coming on as a substitute in a 4–1 win over Molde. Klavan made one more appearance before spending two matches on the bench as an unused substitute. On 19 November 2004, his loan was extended for a year, until 30 November 2005.

Heracles Almelo

On 4 August 2005, Klavan signed a three-year contract with Dutch Eredivisie club Heracles Almelo. Five days later, Klavan made his debut for Heracles Almelo against DCG. He scored his first goal in the Eredivisie in a 2–2 draw against Vitesse on 31 December 2006, and assisted Everton's goal in the same match.

He scored his second goal for the club on 24 August 2007, in a 1–2 defeat against Roda JC Kerkrade. On 29 December 2007, Klavan extended his contract with Heracles Almelo until 30 June 2008. On the final match of the season, he scored his side's only goal in a 1–5 defeat to Ajax.

On the opening match of the 2008–09 season, he scored and provided the assist for Darl Douglas's goal in a 3–1 win over Feyenoord. He made a total of 95 league appearances for Heracles Almelo, scoring 4 goals.

AZ

On 27 January 2009, Klavan joined AZ on loan from Heracles Almelo. He made his debut for the club on 4 February 2009, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Roda JC. While at AZ, the club won the 2008–09 Eredivisie, their first league title since 1981. After the season, Klavan signed for AZ on a permanent deal.

On the opening match of the 2009–10 season, Klavan played against his former club Heracles Almelo, losing 2–3. On 29 September 2009, Klavan became the first Estonian to play in UEFA Champions League group stage as he came on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw against Standard Liège. Klavan saw limited playing time under Ronald Koeman, caretaker Martin Haar and Dick Advocaat, making only 11 substitute appearances, before becoming a regular under Gertjan Verbeek. On 29 July 2010, Klavan scored his first European goal in a 2–0 win against Göteborg in the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. Despite losing 0–1 in the second leg, the club advanced to the next stage, where the club progressed to the group stage. Klavan scored again in the fourth round of the KNVB Cup in a 3–0 win against Eindhoven on 10 November 2010.

Augsburg

On 2 July 2012, Klavan joined Bundesliga side Augsburg on a two-year contract. He made his debut for Augsburg on 14 September 2012, coming off the bench in the second half of a 0–0 draw against VfL Wolfsburg. Klavan scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 Bundesliga draw against Hannover 96.

Klavan soon became a first team regular for the German club, establishing himself as a first choice centre-back. Augsburg finished the 2014–15 Bundesliga season in fifth place, the highest placing in their history at the time, and qualified to the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

Liverpool

On 20 July 2016, Klavan moved to Premier League club Liverpool for a reported fee of £4.2 million (€5 million) on a three-year contract. The transfer fee of €5 million made him the most expensive Estonian footballer ever. The club confirmed that he would wear the number 17 shirt.

Klavan made his Premier League debut for Liverpool on 14 August, in a 4–3 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, and scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 EFL Cup third round win over Derby County on 20 September.

Klavan made his senior national team debut on 3 July 2003 against Lithuania in a Baltic Cup match. He scored his first goal on 31 May 2006 against New Zealand in a friendly. Klavan played his 50th game for Estonia national team on 11 October 2008, against Spain in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. Klavan scored his second international goal on 29 February 2012 against El Salvador in a friendly game, where he was also Estonia's captain for the first time.

On 27 March 2015, Klavan played his 100th international match, a 0–3 loss to Switzerland at the Swissporarena in Lucerne during UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.

Klavan's father, Dzintar Klavan, is a retired professional footballer who also represented Estonia internationally.

Klavan and his wife, Lili Orel, married on 10 June 2011. They have two sons: Romer (born 8 August 2012) and Ronan (born 13 August 2014).

Club

International

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	31 May 2006	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	27	New Zealand	1–0	1–1	Friendly
2	29 February 2012	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	76	El Salvador	1–0	2–0	Friendly
3	26 May 2014	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	92	Gibraltar	1–0	1–1	Friendly

Club

• Meistriliiga: 2003
• Estonian Supercup: 2003

• Eredivisie: 2008–09

Individual

• Estonian Footballer of the Year: 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016