Caoimhin Kelleher to seal Liverpool exit as pundit's £40m transfer fee claim gets answered
Liverpool star Caoimhin Kelleher is on his way out of the club after a deal was agreed with Brentford.
Whilst most clubs are enjoying a break at the end of a long season, Liverpool appear to be doing anything but resting on their Premier League winning laurels.
Jeremie Frimpong has been confirmed with a big-money bid said to be getting considered by Bayer Leverkusen over the potential transfer of Florian Wirtz.
It’s not just incomings that are being negotiated either with Caoimhin Kelleher about to join Brentford in a deal that could total as much as £18m according to Sky Sports.
Caoimhin Kelleher in Brentford move after Jason McAteer tipped big money trasfer fee
Liverpool’s backup keeper is heading into the last year of his contract and, with the impending arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili, it made a lot of sense to move him on.
Kelleher has been carefully managed in that he has played enough games to attract interest from other clubs despite never really having a chance of displacing Alisson from the No.1 slot.
Not every sale has to be a record fee and maximising the money brought in for fringe players is a huge component of a successful player trading model.
Keeping the balance book ticking over and squeezing profit out of those who don’t make the grade is an art form.
Speaking on BEIN Sports earlier in the season, former Liverpool utility man Jason McAteer predicted that it could be Kelleher’s last campaign at Anfield. His comments also raise an interesting question.
“I think Caoimhin’s got to the point in his career now where he’s going to have to make a big choice at the end of the season,” said the pundit. “If he wants a career somewhere else to play rather than just sit on the bench waiting to get in.”
“Chelsea is the big one, [Robert] Sanchez… Caoimhin’s valuation would certainly have gone up over the past couple of seasons. From what we’ve seen you’re probably looking at 30 or 40 million for him.
“There were a couple of offers in the summer but he decided he wanted to stay. But with Mamardashvili coming, I think that’s saying to him ‘go and have a career’.”
Have Liverpool undervalued Kelleher?
Kelleher might well be a £30m or £40m goalkeeper, however, everyone knows that he wants to leave Liverpool which is probably why negotiations with Brentford have been too easy.
Add in his contract status and the fact that in six-month's time he could discuss a pre-contract move and an inflated fee was never realistic.
In fact, to get close to £20m is outstanding work, especially when his replacement has already been secured.
It is a departure that the scouting and recruitment team don’t have to worry about trying to replace.
The writing has been on the wall for some time for Kelleher, but that hasn’t stopped Liverpool’s handling of the situation being commendable.
A lot of clubs would have looked at the next in line for minutes and given them game time instead of a player looking to move on.
Had Kelleher sat on the bench or in the stands, an £18m fee would have been impossible, never mind £30m or 40m.