Football
Glenn Price, Liverpool correspondent 8y

Liverpool set to sign Augsburg defender Ragnar Klavan - source

Liverpool are closing in on a deal to sign defender Ragnar Klavan, a source close to the club has told ESPN FC.

A source has told ESPN FC that the Reds are close to completing a €5 million transfer of the Augsburg centre-back.

With injuries to Mamadou Sakho and youngster Joe Gomez meaning they will miss the start of the Premier League season, the acquisition of the 30-year-old will provide Liverpool with much-needed cover in the heart of the defence as Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren are currently the only recognised available options.

The Liverpool Echo reports that Klavan, who will reportedly undergo a medical on Tuesday, is seen as the ideal replacement for the experienced Kolo Toure, who left Anfield at the end of last season as his contract expired.

Klavan, who has over 100 caps for Estonia and played in both legs of Augsburg's meeting with Liverpool in the Europa League season, joined the Bundesliga outfit in the summer of 2012.

Meanwhile, Matip appeared to pick up an injury in Sunday's 2-0 friendly win over Wigan Athletic. However, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is hopeful that it's not a serious setback for the Cameroon international.

"I hope it's only a minor problem," Klopp said. "He said he's had it one or two times already.

"It's the foot he had problems with in the past and then he had a little bit of pain when preseason started because of the intensity.

"It's not too serious, hopefully. We had to make the decision of Joel or Dejan [Lovren], who has to play the whole 90 minutes?

"We decided on Joel. For him it was a little bit too much but he is in a good way, as you can see."

Sources also told ESPN FC on Monday that goalkeeper Adam Bogdan is set to move to Wigan after falling out of Klopp's favour.

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