So farewell then, Ragnar Klavan. The veteran Estonian arrived at Anfield for a relative pittance, departed for even less, and for most of his two years at the club, he was fourth choice for his position.

That really doesn’t tell the whole story, though, and Klavan was far more valuable than he was ever probably given credit for. Time will tell if allowing him to leave proves to be a mistake, but it certainly seems like an unnecessary gamble.cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale

Allowing Simon Mignolet to also follow Klavan out the exit door before the end of the month would be an even bigger risk by Jurgen Klopp. The Belgian is being heavily linked with a move away, but he could, indeed should, still have a role to play this season.

So, too, could Klavan, if he hadn’t been given the green light to move to Italian club Cagliari. Given his status as a fringe member of the side, you might be surprised to know that Klavan appeared in 53 games over the past two seasons, starting 40 of them. You can count on one hand the number of bad games he had.

Then there’s Joe Gomez. Bad luck seems to have been the main problem for him. Knee and ankle ligament damage is hardly a sign of a player being “injury prone”; if anything, it points to him being unlucky. Either way, though, it’s not encouraging.

Perhaps Fabinho can do a job there in an emergency, while Klopp has spoken highly of young Nathaniel Phillips, who performed well in preseason. It’s admirable that Klopp is always keen to clear a path for young players to come through whenever possible, but this is neither the time nor the position for that.

Young centre-backs make mistakes. Look at Gomez, who has vastly more experience and talent than Phillips, yet is still prone to the occasional error because that’s how it is with all young centre-backs.

Nowhere in a team is experience more valuable that in the centre of defence. Klavan had that in spades. He just slotted in when needed, did his job and then went out again without any complaint. Players like that are invaluable in any successful squad. Presumably Klavan felt he needed to play more, and that’s understandable. Klopp is never one to stand in the way of a player’s happiness, but these are exceptional circumstances.cheap nfl nike jerseys from china

Liverpool have a genuine chance of winning the title this year, and nothing should be allowed to jeopardise that. Weakening the squad by allowing quality backups like Klavan and Mignolet to leave seems like an unnecessary gamble.