Caoimhin Kelleher, Liverpool’s backup option between the posts, has been getting plenty of gametime since the start of last season, with regular first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker suffering occasional injury problems which tend to keep him out of action for longer than anyone at the club would’ve liked; including Kelleher, it seems.
At the age of 25, Kelleher is obviously past the stage of his career where he should be happy with keeping the bench warm and watching someone more experienced do the actual job in goal. He has proven his class time and again, and though he obviously isn’t quite as good as an in-form Alisson, he surely deserves to be at a club where he would be given a proper chance to make the position his own. And for all of his love for Liverpool, it simply won’t happen for him there, especially now when the club have secured the services of Giorgi Mamardashvili from next season.
During the summer this year, Celtic reportedly offered £10 million to sign Kelleher. There was previous interest from other clubs as well. In January, Nottingham Forest are believed to have seen an offer of £15 million rejected, and later, one consisting of £7 million plus Matt Turner too. Liverpool obviously value their No. 2 shot-stopper far more, over £20 million reportedly, and Kelleher himself admits his fears that his quality and good form are potentially pricing him out of leaving the club.
Still, the Ireland international has also stated that staying at Liverpool isn’t too bad for him, even though he doesn’t expect to displace Alisson, believing the Brazilian to be one of the best in the world. He expects plenty of game-time, given the number of games set to be played across the four competitions in 2024/25, as well as Alisson’s injury problems. On the other hand, he isn’t prepared to think about the imminent arrival of Mamardashvili at this point.
“That’s next summer,” he said. “I am not thinking about that right now. I just want to do as well as I can in these coming games.”
Alisson is out of action at the moment with a serious hamstring problem and he won’t be back for a month. It means that Kelleher, having stood between the posts against Chelsea on Sunday, will start again against RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday, as well as away to Arsenal next weekend, at home against Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen, and then Aston Villa.
But Kelleher will likely make a stronger push on the exit door at Anfield at the end of the season, and it’s hard to imagine Liverpool resisting his wish to leave. He will have 12 months left on his contract, and from their point of view, it makes more sense to get some money for his services, though likely less than they’d want, than to keep him for another season and let him leave as a free agent in 2026. His form and quality, rather than pricing him out of a move, should then help him attract interest from bigger clubs than before.
That is now mere guesswork and may or may not prove the case come next summer, but one thing is hard to dispute: it’s time for Kelleher to move on from Liverpool and find his feet elsewhere as the first-choice goalkeeper.
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