Liverpool close to signing FC Augsburg defender Ragnar Klavan for £4.2m

Liverpool are close to wrapping up their fourth summer signing with Ragnar Klavan set to sign for the club in a £4.2m ($5.5m) deal from Bundesliga side FC Augsburg. Jurgen Klopp is keen to shore up his defence following the departures of Kolo Toure and Martin Skrtel.

According to BBC Sport, the Reds are on the verge of completing the deal for the central defender, who has been playing for the German club since 2012. The former Borussia Dortmund boss knows the defender well since his days in the Bundesliga and has identified him as the perfect cover for first choice pairing Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip.

Liverpool also have Mamadou Sakho and Joe Gomez on their books, but the defensive duo are expected to miss the start of the season due to Achilles injuries. At the moment Klopp is facing a shortage of defenders and Klavan, who is vastly experienced at the club and international level will be a valuable addition ahead of their pre-season tour of the United States. He will become their fourth summer addition following the arrival of Matip, Sadio Mane and Loris Karius.

The 30-year-old defender has made 108 appearances for the Estonia national team and has also won the Eredivisie title during his spell with AZ Alkmaar under former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal. Klavan has been impressive for Augsburg in the Bundesliga and is also reliable in terms of his discipline as he picked up just three yellow cards in 40 appearances in all competitions last season.

The Estonia national team skipper, who is expected to sign in the coming days, could get his chance to shine for Liverpool sooner rather than later after Matip suffered a minor injury during the Anfield outfit's pre-season win over Wigan Athletic on Sunday (17 July). Klopp confirmed the knock to the defender's foot, but the German coach hoped that the injury is minor.

"I hope it's only a minor problem. He said he's had it one or two times already," the Reds boss said following their win over Wigan, as quoted on Liverpool's official site.

"It's the foot he had problems with in the past and then he had a little bit of pain when pre-season started because of the intensity. He's used to it. Hopefully it is like this because everyone can see he's in a real good way. I think tomorrow he'll rest, and then he can go again," Klopp added.