Klopp comments on Klavan’s future after signing of Van Dijk

Jurgen Klopp has urged Ragnar Klavan to be more confident after Liverpool announced the world-record £75million signing of centre-back Virgil van Dijk yesterday.

Liverpool finally captured Van Dijk after failing in a bid to lure the Southampton defender in the summer.

The centre-back will move to Liverpool on January for a record fee for a defender – £75million.

But Klavan, who started the 5-0 win over Swansea, remains an important figure at Anfield, despite the Estonian likely to find himself further down the pecking order.

“He is a perfect role model for pretty much all signings. He loves being here,” Klopp said.“

“He is in good shape at the moment. It’s very, very important for us that he is.

“He needs to be confident. He could be much more confident with his skills but we are working on that as well.

“He is in good shape at the moment. It’s very, very important for us that he is.

“We had Joel [Matip] and Dejan [Lovren] with one or two little [injuries] so it was very important that he could step in.”

Klavan, 32, joined Liverpool from Augsburg for £4.2m in 2016 and has had to settle for a bit-part role at Anfield and Van Dijk’s arrival is set to see him as fourth choice centre-back behind Matip, Lovren and Van Dijk.