Ragnar Klavan has revealed that Mohamed Salah and Alisson helped convince him to swap Liverpool for Cagliari.
The 32-year-old defender, who made 53 appearances for Liverpool after arriving on Merseyside back in 2016, joined Cagliari for £2million on a two-year contract earlier this week.
Klavan struggled for minutes under Jurgen Klopp and was keen to move on from Anfield in search of regular playing time ahead of the campaign.
The Estonian was talking to several clubs this summer but opted to join Cagliari after discussions with Liverpool team-mates Salah and Alisson who both have experience in Italy.
‘I had offers from several teams, including in other countries, but Cagliari really wanted me,” Klavan told Sky Sport Italia. ‘Darijo Srna advised me to come here, as I talked to him via Dejan Lovren.
‘Other Liverpool teammates like Alisson, Salah and Lucas Leiva all spoke highly of Serie A. ‘I’m certain we’ll do great things here and I am really fired up. The city is wonderful and so are the fans, I can’t wait to get started.’ Klavan became the fifth player to leave Liverpool this summer following the departures of Emre Can, Jon Flanagan, Danny Ward and Jordan Williams
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 fifth highest capped Estonian player of all time. Klavan has won the Estonian Footballer of the Year award five times, in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.