Liverpool’s experienced centre-back is likely to be pushed down the pecking order.
Liverpool have moved quickly to secure a deal for Virgil Van Dijk before the January transfer window has officially opened but one of the club’s current defenders could be forgiven for feeling rather frustrated by the deal.
Van Dijk will officially join Liverpool for £75 million on January 1st in a world record move for a defender, as reported by BBC Sport.
It seems likely that Van Dijk, given the quality that he possesses, will prove to be an excellent signing for Liverpool, with manager Jurgen Klopp eager to ensure that his side can compete at the top of the Premier League in the long term.
However, while Liverpool’s defending has been called into question at various points during Klopp’s tenure, the impressive recent performances of Ragnar Klavan cannot fail to have gone unnoticed by the German.
The experienced Estonian has been hugely impressive of late as he has frequently made precisely-timed interceptions, but it is now questionable whether he will even be able to get on the bench when all of Liverpool’s players are fit.
Given that he is 32 years old, Klavan was never going to be a long term solution to Liverpool’s defensive problems and he was part of the side that drew 3-3 away to Arsenal last week.
However, Klavan certainly deserves credit for his recent displays and, even if he can no longer command a regular starting berth following Van Dijk’s arrival, he surely deserves to be ahead of Lovren in the pecking order at least.
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