Ragnar Klavan

Ragnar Klavan

Klavan with AZ in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Ragnar Klavan[1]
Date of birth	30 October 1985
Place of birth	Viljandi, Estonia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current team	Liverpool
Number	17
Youth career
1991–2000	Tulevik
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001	→ Elva	25	(5)
2002–2003	Tulevik	28	(2)
2003–2005	Flora	28	(2)
2004–2005	→ Vålerenga (loan)	2	(0)
2005–2009	Heracles Almelo	95	(4)
2009	→ AZ (loan)	12	(0)
2009–2012	AZ	66	(0)
2012–2016	FC Augsburg	125	(4)
2016–	Liverpool	4	(0)
National team^‡
1999	Estonia U15	4	(0)
2001	Estonia U17	9	(0)
2002	Estonia U18	1	(0)
2003	Estonia U20	1	(0)
2002–2006	Estonia U21	7	(0)
2003–	Estonia	116	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:33, 30 October 2016 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 December 2016

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.

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.

Club career

Early career

Ragnar Klavan was born on 30 October 1985 in Viljandi, Estonia to Tiina and Dzintar Klavan.^[2] His father, Dzintar, was a professional footballer and an Estonian international who played as a midfielder. Ragnar also started playing football as a midfielder; later stating that Zinedine Zidane was his childhood hero.^[3]

Klavan made his senior league debut for II liiga club Elva (at the time, reserve team of Viljandi JK Tulevik) at the age of 15 in 2001. A year later he rejoined his boyhood club Tulevik. While with Tulevik, he had a trial with Sunderland, but was not offered a contract.^[4] He made his Meistriliiga debut on 31 March 2002 against Levadia.

Flora

In July 2003, Klavan moved to Flora. He scored against TVMK on his debut on 11 July 2003. With Flora, Klavan won the 2003 Meistriliiga season.

Vålerenga (loan)

On 31 August 2004, Klavan signed for Vålerenga on a three-month loan from Flora.^[5] Klavan made his debut, coming on as a substitute, in a 4–1 win over Molde on 19 September 2004. Klavan made one more appearance before spending two matches on the bench as an unused substitute. Three months later, Flora extended his loan until 30 November 2005.^[6] This loan was terminated after just two league game as Klavan's playing time was still limited.

Heracles Almelo

On 4 August 2005, he signed a three-year contract with Eredivisie club Heracles Almelo.^[7] Five days later, Klavan made his debut for Heracles Almelo against DCG.^[8] He scored his first Eredivisie goal 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 2–1 loss against his national teammate Andres Oper's club Roda JC.^[9][10] On 29 December 2007, Klavan extended his contract with Heracles Almelo until 30 June 2008.^[11] 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, scoring 4 goals, for Heracles Almelo before leaving for AZ.

AZ

On 27 January 2009, Klavan was loaned to AZ. He made his AZ debut coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Roda on 4 February 2009.^[12] While at AZ, the club won their first Eredivisie title since 1981. At the end of the season, Klavan signed for AZ on a permanent deal.^[13]

In the next season, Klavan played his first match, since moving permanently, against his former club in a 2–3 loss on the opening game of the season. On 29 September 2009, he 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.^[14] Klavan was rarely used 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.

FC Augsburg

On 2 July 2012, he joined Bundesliga side FC Augsburg on a two-year contract.^[15][16] He made his debut for FC 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. FC 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.^[17][18]

Klavan made his Premier League debut for Liverpool on 14 August, in a 4–3 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium,^[19] and scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 EFL Cup third round win over Derby County on 20 September.^[20]

International career

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.^[21] Klavan played his 50th game for Estonia national team on 11 October 2008, against Spain in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.^[22] 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.^[23]

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.^[24]

Personal life

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.^[25] They have two sons: Romer (born 8 August 2012) and Ronan (born 13 August 2014).^[26][27]

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 December 2016.^[28][29]

Club	Season	League			Cup[lower-alpha 1]		League Cup[lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Other[lower-alpha 3]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Elva	2001	II liiga	25	5			—		—		—		25	5
Tulevik	2002	Meistriliiga	18	0			—		—		—		18	0
	2003		10	2			—		—		—		10	2
	Total		28	2			—		—		—		28	2
Flora	2003	Meistriliiga	12	1			—		2	0	0	0	14	1
	2004		16	1			—		1	0	0	0	17	1
	Total		28	2			—		3	0	0	0	31	2
Vålerenga (loan)	2004	Eliteserien	2	0	0	0	—		—		—		2	0
	2005		0	0	2	0	—		0	0	—		2	0
	Total		2	0	2	0	—		0	0	—		4	0
Heracles Almelo	2005–06	Eredivisie	15	0	1	0	—		—		2	0	18	0
	2006–07		32	1	1	0	—		—		—		33	1
	2007–08		29	2	4	1	—		—		—		33	3
	2008–09		19	1	1	0	—		—		—		20	1
	Total		95	4	7	1	—		—		2	0	104	5
AZ (loan)	2008–09	Eredivisie	12	0	1	0	—		—		—		13	0
AZ	2009–10		11	0	1	0	—		1	0	0	0	13	0
	2010–11		28	0	3	1	—		8	1	—		39	2
	2011–12		27	0	4	1	—		8	0	—		39	1
	Total		78	0	9	2	—		17	1	0	0	104	3
FC Augsburg	2012–13	Bundesliga	30	0	2	0	—		—		—		32	0
	2013–14		30	2	3	0	—		—		—		33	2
	2014–15		34	2	1	0	—		—		—		35	2
	2015–16		31	0	3	0	—		6	0	—		40	0
	Total		125	4	9	0	—		6	0	—		140	4
Liverpool	2016–17	Premier League	4	0	0	0	3	1	—		0	0	7	1
Career total			385	17	27	3	3	1	26	1	2	0	443	22

1. Includes the Estonian Cup, Norwegian Cup, KNVB Cup, DFB-Pokal and FA Cup
2. Includes the EFL Cup
3. Includes the Estonian Supercup, Eredivisie play-offs and Johan Cruyff Shield

International

As of 1 December 2016.^[29]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Estonia
	2003	5	0
	2004	12	0
	2005	8	0
	2006	6	1
	2007	11	0
	2008	10	0
	2009	10	0
	2010	4	0
	2011	9	0
	2012	8	1
	2013	7	0
	2014	9	1
	2015	9	0
	2016	8	0
Total		116	3

International goals

As of 1 December 2016. Estonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Klavan goal.^[29]

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

Honours

Club

Flora

• Meistriliiga: 2003
• Estonian Supercup: 2003

AZ

• Eredivisie: 2008–09

Individual

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

References

1. "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
2. "Europe's ultimate footballing families". UEFA.
3. "Who is Ragnar Klavan? All you need to know about Liverpool's newest addition". The Daily Telegraph.
4. "Who is Liverpool transfer target Ragnar Klavan?". Sky plc.
5. "Klavan siirdub Norrasse" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 31 August 2004. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
6. "Ragnar Klavan jätkab Norras" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 19 November 2004. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
7. "Klavanist sai Heraclese mängija" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 4 August 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
8. "Klavan osales Heraclese võidumängus" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 10 August 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
9. "Klavan lõi Roda vastu värava" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 25 August 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
10. "Roda see off Heracles". Sky Sports. 24 August 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
11. "Klavan pikendas Heraclesega lepingut" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 29 December 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
12. "Holland. Duty victory AZ and Feyenoord awaited triumph (in Dutch:Голландия. Дежурная победа АЗ и долгожданный триумф Фейеноорда)" (in Dutch). Football.ua. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
13. "Estonia's Klavan targets Dutch glory with AZ". UEFA.com.
14. "Ragnar Klavan tegi Meistrite Liigas ajalugu!" (in Estonian). Delfi. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
15. "FCA verpflichtet Ragnar Klavan" (in German). FC Augsburg. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
16. "FCA verpflichtet Ragnar Klavan" (in German). Fußball-Bundesliga. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
17. "Ragnar Klavan: Liverpool sign Estonia defender from Augsburg". BBC. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
18. "Klavan to Postimees: length of contract reveals Liverpool believes in me". Postimees. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
19. "Võidukas debüüt: Klavan ja Liverpool seljatasid pöörases mängus Arsenali" (in Estonian). Postimees. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
20. "Derby 0-3 Liverpool". BBC Sport. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
21. "Ragnar Klavan – jalgpallur, kes maksab miljon eurot" (in Estonian). SL Õhtuleht.
22. "EESTI – HISPAANIA 0:3 (0:2)" (in Estonian). jalgpallihaigla.ee. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
23. "Eesti alustas aastat 2:0 võiduga El Salvadori üle" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
24. "Centurion Klavan refuses to let Estonia dream die". UEFA. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
25. "Palju õnne: ka Ragnar Klavan sai sõrmuse sõrme" (in Estonian). Õhtuleht. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
26. "Klavan stolzer Papa" (in German). FC Augsburg. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
27. "Klavan sai poja isaks" (in Estonian). Soccernet.ee. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
28. "R. KLAVAN". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
29. "Klavan, Ragnar". National-Football-Teams. Retrieved 18 July 2016.

External links

• Ragnar Klavan at Estonian Football Association (Estonian)
• Ragnar Klavan profile at the Liverpool website
• Ragnar Klavan – FIFA competition record
• Ragnar Klavan at National-Football-Teams.com