Arne Slot has dropped a big hint that ‘phenomenal’ Liverpool player is about to leave the club this summer

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Liverpool took a big step in their preparations for the new season with a first friendly outing of the summer on Friday.

The Reds have been through a period of real change since the end of the season, with Jurgen Klopp heading out and Arne Slot coming in.

Matters have been slightly complicated by the fact that the new head coach has barely had any members of his first-team squad available to work with.

But with so many of his stars away, Slot has at least been given an early chance to work with some fringe players and some prospects from the Liverpool academy.

Many of those players were given a run out on Friday as Liverpool lost 1-0 to Preston. However, there was greater intrigue surrounding one player who Slot afforded a grand total of zero minutes to.

No sign of Caoimhin Kelleher vs Preston

Slot used a total of 25 players during Friday’s kickabout at the AXA Training Centre. Youngsters such as Luca Stephenson and Amara Nallo who are yet to make their first-team debuts featured.

Two more who haven’t played senior football for Liverpool were between the sticks. Vitezslav Jaros started the match in net, replaced at half-time by Harvey Davies.

This was obviously interesting given the ongoing speculation over the future of Caoimhin Kelleher.

Kelleher could leave Liverpool this summer after declaring his intention to play first-team football. The Irishman looks ready to take up the number one shirt somewhere.

READ MORE: How Caoimhin Kelleher feels about leaving Liverpool for Celtic this summer

With Alisson Becker still around, that’s unlikely to be at Anfield. As a result Kelleher has been urged to leave Liverpool by new Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson.

There has been tentative interest in the 25-year-old, with Celtic one of the sides mentioned as a possible destination for him.

And judging by his failure to make an appearance on Friday, it looks like a move could be around the corner.

Kelleher had been expected to feature against Preston but Jaros and then Davies played instead. It could be nothing, but it feels significant.

Is Caoimhin Kelleher injured?

There is of course a second scenario to this: that Kelleher has picked up a knock and was not fit to play.

However, the academy graduate has been spotted in training this summer already and besides, Slot did not indicate that he had any fitness issues in the squad when speaking to LFCTV after the game.

“The most important thing is that everyone was fit before the game and they stayed fit during the game as well,” said the Dutchman.

Putting two and two together here could easily make five. But it seems fairly safe to say that Kelleher may have been protected because he’s either already in talks to leave Liverpool, or he’s expected to be soon.

Kelleher was described as ‘phenomenal‘ by Chris Sutton for what he did during Alisson’s injury absence last season. He has been a truly superb back-up ‘keeper for Liverpool. But if he is to leave, he’ll do so with the best wishes of everyone at Anfield.

Let’s wait for updates, we think they’ll be coming soon.