Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has backed Caoimhin Kelleher to leave Liverpool this summer.
Kelleher’s future has been the subject of plenty of speculation of late. Having understandably failed to dislodge Alisson Becker as Liverpool No.1, he looks like he could be on the move in the coming months.
And despite Jurgen Klopp recently downplaying suggestions that he could lose his back-up ‘keeper, Ireland boss Kenny says he expects Kelleher to move on.
“Caoimhin is a very talented goalkeeper. It looks like he’ll be on the move this summer and he can only benefit [from that]. He needs to play games,” he said via RTE. “He’s been starved of games this season, it’s been a problem for him. It’s hard to leave Liverpool, it’s such an iconic club, but he’s not so young now. He’s 24, and he needs to play and he knows that.
“He knew that earlier this season and I think he’s been in dialogue with Liverpool about that for a long time. It’s most likely it’ll happen you would think in the summer.
“I would fully expect [him to move]. He’s at the stage where he’s behind one of the best goalkeepers in the world. You can’t improve by not playing. He knows that. He’s known that for a while. I think he’s ready to go and play regularly, because he needs to. The previous season was a great success for him, winning the [Carabao] Cup, playing in the cup competitions. They were knocked out early this year and there was not so much football for him.”
Kelleher heading for Anfield exit
With every passing day, Klopp’s assertion that it would take an ‘extraordinary’ offer for him to sell Kelleher this summer looks like a transfer tactic.
If the manager’s decision to play the 24-year-old over Alisson last weekend didn’t sway you, maybe Kenny’s words here will. All signs point to Caoimhin finding himself a new club before the 2023/24 season gets underway.
Understandably, this will disappoint many Liverpool supporters. The Irishman has been an excellent back-up to Alisson and will be difficult to replace. But few can argue that it’s now the right time for Kelleher to push on with his career.
As Sunday’s chaotic final-day draw with Southampton showed, he’s nowhere close to challenging Ali for the No.1 spot. That might sound harsh, but when you’re used to seeing the best in the business, a drop-off from that can be glaring. It isn’t a stretch to say that Liverpool’s big Brazilian would perhaps have saved all four of Saints goals at the weekend.
On the back of that, maybe the Reds will now find clubs baulking at their reported £20m asking price [The Athletic] for Kelleher. He doesn’t have too much in the way of Premier League performances to go off, and judging by the display at St. Mary’s he isn’t worth that.
Liverpool won’t want to sell for too much less, though. As one of his few saleable assets in the window, Klopp will be keen to get as much as he possibly can for Kelleher.
With the player seemingly so set on a move though, Liverpool might have to compromise. In all likelihood, Kenny’s very public comments about Caoimhin looking to move on won’t have helped the Reds in that regard. Klopp won’t be best pleased with the Ireland manager, you can bet on that.
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