Ragnar Klavan (born 30 October 1985) is an Estonian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a defender for Estonian club

Paide Linnameeskond Paide Linnameeskond is a professional football club based in Paide, Estonia that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Paide linnastaadion. Founded in 2004, the club has played in the Meist ...

and the Estonia national team. A left-footed centre back, he has also played as a left back during his career. Klavan played for

Elva Elva may refer to: Places *Elva, Estonia, town in Tartu County, Estonia *Elva Parish, municipality in Estonia *Elva (river), a river in Estonia *Elva, Illinois, unincorporated community in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States *Elva, Manitoba, u ...

, Tulevik and

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

in Estonia, winning the

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (, known as the A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded in 1992, and was initially semi-professional with ...

with Flora in the 2003 season, before moving to the Netherlands where he represented Heracles Almelo and AZ, winning the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

with the latter in the 2008–09 season. In 2012, he transferred to

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

and spent four seasons in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

before his move to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in 2016 for €5 million. In 2018, Klavan signed for Cagliari in a transfer worth £2 million. In 2021, he returned to Estonia signing for

. Klavan made his senior 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 fifth-most capped player in the history of the national team. Klavan has won the

Estonian Footballer of the Year The Estonian Footballer of the Year ( et, Eesti aasta parim jalgpallur) is an annual award given to the best performing Estonian footballer of the respective year. The award has been presented since 1992. From 1992 to 1994, the winner was chosen ...

award a record seven times, in 2012 and from 2014 to 2019.

Early life

Klavan was born on 30 October 1985 in

Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu. ...

, 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 Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...

was his inspiration.

Club career

Tulevik

Klavan started out playing for his hometown team Tulevik. He made his senior league debut in the

Esiliiga The Esiliiga is the second division in the Estonian football league system. The Esiliiga is ranked below the Meistriliiga and above the Esiliiga B. As in most countries with low temperatures in winter time, the season starts in March and ends i ...

on 8 April 2001, playing for Tulevik's reserve team

and scoring the winning goal against Sillamäe Kalev in a 2–1 home victory. He moved to Tulevik's first team in 2002 and made his debut in the

on 31 March 2002, at age 16, in a goalless draw against Levadia. While at Tulevik, Klavan had a trial with Sunderland, but was not offered a contract.

Flora

In July 2003, Klavan joined Meistriliiga club

. He made his debut for the club on 11 July 2003, when he came on as a 67th-minute substitute and scored on the 85th minute of a 4–4 away draw against TVMK. Klavan won the Meistriliiga title in the 2003 season.

Vålerenga (loan)

On 31 August 2004, Klavan joined Norwegian club Vålerenga on a three-month loan for a fee of 300,000 NOK, with an option to sign permanently for €500,000 when the loan period is over. He made his debut in the

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

on 19 September 2004, coming on as a substitute in the 86th minute of a 4–1 victory over Molde. Klavan made one more league 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

club Heracles Almelo for a fee of €200,000. He made his debut in the Eredivisie on 13 August 2005, in a 1–1 home draw against PSV. Klavan scored his first Eredivisie goal on 31 December 2006, in a 2–2 home draw against Vitesse, and provided the assist for Everton's goal in the same match. He scored his second goal on 24 August 2007, in a 2–1 loss to

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisi ...

. 30 October 2007, Klavan scored in a 3–0 home victory over

FC Omniworld Almere City Football Club is a Dutch professional football club based in Almere, Flevoland. Founded in 2001, plays in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, and hosts home matches at the Yanmar Stadion. The club builds on forme ...

in the third round of the KNVB Cup. On 29 December 2007, Klavan signed a new contract that would extend his stay at the club until 30 June 2009. On 20 April 2008, he scored his side's only goal in a 5–1 loss to

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

in the last match of the 2007–08 season. In the opening match of the 2008–09 season on 31 August 2008, Klavan set-up Darl Douglas' opening goal and scored the second goal in a 3–1 home victory over

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

AZ

On 27 January 2009, Klavan joined AZ on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season with an option to sign permanently. He made his debut for the club on 4 February 2009, in a 1–0 home victory over Roda JC when he came on as a 60th-minute substitute for Kees Luijckx. On 14 February, Klavan signed a four-year contract, keeping him with AZ until June 2013. Klavan won the Eredivisie title in the 2008–09 season. On 29 September 2009, Klavan became the first Estonian to play in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

group stage when he came on as an 82nd-minute substitute for

Sébastien Pocognoli Sébastien Pocognoli (born 1 August 1987) is a Belgian football manager and former player who played as a left-back. He is the head coach of the Under-21 squad of Union SG. Between 2008 and 2014, he made 13 appearances for the Belgium national ...

in a 1–1 home draw against

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

. He saw limited playing time under managers

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

and

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three stint ...

, making only 11 league appearances in the 2009–10 season, before becoming a regular starter for AZ under

Gertjan Verbeek Gertjan Verbeek (; born 1 August 1962) is a Dutch former professional footballer who last managed Eerste Divisie side Almere City. Coaching career Netherlands After retiring from his playing career in 1994, Verbeek stayed with SC Heerenveen as ...

. On 29 July 2010, Klavan scored his first goal for AZ in a 2–0 home win against

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

in the third qualifying round of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. He scored the third goal in a 3–0 home victory over FC Eindhoven on 10 November 2010, in the fourth round of the KNVB Cup. On 27 October 2011, Klavan scored his side's second goal in the 3–2 extra time win against FC Dordrecht in the third round of the KNVB Cup.

FC Augsburg

On 2 July 2012, Klavan signed a two-year contract with German club

for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut in the

on 14 September 2012, when he came on as a 67th-minute substitute for Matthias Ostrzolek in a 0–0 home draw against

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

. Klavan soon became a first team regular, establishing himself as a first choice centre back alongside Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker. He scored his first Bundesliga goal on 1 March 2014, in a 1–1 home draw against Hannover 96. On 10 May 2014, Klavan scored in a 2–1 home victory over

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

. On 8 February 2015, Klavan scored the opening goal in a 2–2 home draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. Six days later, he scored in a 3–2 away loss to

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

. Klavan played every minute of the 2014–15 season as FC Augsburg finished fifth in the league, their highest position in history, and qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

Liverpool

On 20 July 2016, Klavan signed a three-year contract with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

for a reported fee of £4.2 million (€5 million). 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 debut in the Premier League on 14 August 2016, in a 4–3 victory over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. He scored his first goal for Liverpool on 20 September 2016, in a 3–0 away victory over

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in the third round of the EFL Cup. On 19 December 2016, Klavan was named man of the match for his performance in Liverpool's 1–0 victory in the

derby match A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violen ...

against Everton at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...

. On 1 January 2018, Klavan became the first-ever Estonian player to score in the Premier League when he scored the winning goal in the fourth minute of injury time in a 2–1 away win against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

. He made eight appearances in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League and was an unused substitute in Liverpool's 3–1 loss to Real Madrid in the final of the tournament.

Cagliari

On 17 August 2018, Klavan signed a two-year contract with Italian club Cagliari for a fee of £2 million. He made his debut in the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

on 26 August, in a 2–2 home draw against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label= Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known f ...

Paide Linnameeskond

On 1 July 2021, Klavan signed for Estonian

club

, returning to Estonia after 17 years abroad. He made his debut for the club in a 2–1 loss against

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish f ...

in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

qualifing match and his league debut ended 0–0 against the defending champion

FC Flora FC Flora, commonly known as Flora Tallinn, or simply as Flora, is a professional football club based in Tallinn, Estonia, that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium. For ...

on 31 July. In the next game against

Viljandi Tulevik Viljandi JK Tulevik, commonly known as Viljandi Tulevik, or simply as Tulevik, is a football club based in Viljandi, Estonia, that competes in the Esiliiga, the second tier of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Viljandi linnastaadio ...

he scored two goals.

International career

Klavan began his youth career in 1999 with the Estonia under-15 team. He also represented the under-17, under-18, under-20, and under-21 national sides, amassing 22 youth appearances overall. Klavan made his senior international debut for

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

on 3 July 2003, at age 17, in 5–1 loss to Lithuania at the 2003 Baltic Cup. He scored his first international goal on 31 May 2006, in a 1–1 home draw against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in a friendly. Klavan made his 50th appearance for the national team on 11 October 2008, in a 3–0 home defeat to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in a

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

match for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. He played in both matches against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

in the

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs The UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-off ties were played over two legs, with the first legs on 11 November and the second legs on 15 November 2011. The four winners are found according to the standard rules for the knockout phase in European compet ...

as Estonia lost 5–1 on aggregate. On 29 February 2012, Klavan captained Estonia for the first time and scored in a 2–0 friendly victory over El Salvador. In 2012, he succeeded

Raio Piiroja Raio Piiroja (born 11 July 1979) is an Estonian former professional footballer. He played as a centre-back for Pärnu/Kalev, Lelle, Flora, Vålerenga, Fredrikstad, Vitesse and Chengdu Blades. Piiroja made his international debut for the Eston ...

as Estonia's captain. On 27 March 2015, Klavan made his 100th appearance for Estonia, in a 0–3 away loss to Switzerland in a

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

match. Klavan has been named

a record seven times, in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Personal life

Klavan and his wife, Lili Orel, married on 10 June 2011. They have two sons: Romer and Ronan. In May 2016, Klavan became president of Estonian football club Tallinna Kalev. On 19 December 2020, he tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Estonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Klavan goal.''

Honours

Flora *

: 2003 AZ *

: 2008–09 Liverpool *

runner-up: 2017–18 Paide Linnameeskond *

Estonian Cup The Estonian Cup ( et, Eesti Karikas) is the national knockout competition in Estonian football. In 2012, the competition was unofficially rebranded as Evald Tipner's Cup. The winner will compete in UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifyi ...

: 2021–22 Individual *

: (7) 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klavan, Ragnar 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Viljandi Estonian footballers Association football defenders Esiliiga players FC Elva players Meistriliiga players Viljandi JK Tulevik players FC Flora players Paide Linnameeskond players Eliteserien players Vålerenga Fotball players Eredivisie players Heracles Almelo players AZ Alkmaar players Bundesliga players FC Augsburg players Premier League players Liverpool F.C. players Serie A players Cagliari Calcio players Estonia youth international footballers Estonia under-21 international footballers Estonia international footballers FIFA Century Club Estonian expatriate footballers Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate footballers in Norway Estonian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Estonian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Estonian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy