Former Liverpool defender Ragnar Klavan has announced his retirement from football at the age of 39 and launched his candidacy for the presidency of the Estonian Football Association.
The Anfield cult hero, who spent three seasons on Merseyside under Jurgen Klopp, told reporters at a press conference in Tallinn, ‘my legs couldn’t take it anymore’.
Klavan joined the Reds from Augsburg in the summer of 2016 and went on to make 53 appearances for the club, scoring two goals.
The defender began his professional career in his homeland in 2001 before moves to the Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A. He was capped 130 times by his national team.
‘The day has come when I am really saying goodbye to my first love – chasing a football around on the pitch and my career as a professional player,’ he said on Tuesday.
‘Having a dream in your bedroom at the age of 13 in Viljandi and making it come true is not that easy.
Ragnar Klavan made 53 appearances for Liverpool across three seasons at the club under Jurgen Klopp
The defender was a part of the Liverpool squad that reached the final of the Champions League in 2018
‘These are of course lots of highlights, but above all was making the Estonian national team, because I broke that dream down into smaller parts and one of the dreams I had was to play for the Estonian A-team. After my first international contract, from there things started moving forward and ended up with me playing in three of the top leagues in the world.’
Klavan’s only league goal for the Reds came in a 2-1 win over Burnley in 2018 as Klopp’s side began to transition into a outfit capable of challenging for the Premier League.
He was part of the side that reached the final of the Champions League in 2018 before his departure for Cagliari that summer.
The defender now has his sights set on transforming Estonian football and he stated his intention to increase ‘cooperation and innovation’ if elected in next year’s elections.
‘The decision to run is definitely influenced by the fact that I see and believe that Estonian football has greater potential,’ he added.
‘Certainly one of the things that has made the Nordics great throughout history can be summed up in two words – cooperation and innovation.
‘Innovation is very much in line with cooperation, and by cooperation I mean leadership. Things are open, transparent and collaborative, and that has always been the strength of the Nordics. Personally, I see that we still have a lot of potential for this.’