Former Liverpool man expects imminent move for £65m star amid surprise transfer decision

Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kelly has tipped a summer move away for Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher.

The keeper has been Liverpool’s second-choice option behind Alisson Becker for a few seasons now, but his performances during the club’s ‘quadruple’ run during the 2021/22 season showed that he’s ready to take that next step up to play regular first-team football. In essence, he’s too good to be sat on the bench week in, week out and reports have filtered through over recent months that he is looking for a move away.

That move could be in the works already, especially given that his international manager has backed the 24-year-old for a summer switch for regular football when speaking tothe Irish media outlet RTE Soccer.

“It looks like he will be on the move this summer, and it can only benefit him because he needs to play games,” he said. “He has been starved of games this year and that has been a problem for him. The previous season was a success to a degree for him, winning the League Cup and playing in the cup competitions, there were a lot of games. I think it will happen this summer. It is not right normally to talk about a player moving, but at Liverpool, he is behind one of the best goalkeepers in the world.”

Being back-up to one of the world’s best keepers is a tough gig considering Kelleher only gets to play in cup matches against lesser-opposition or if there is an injury to Alisson - but the Brazilian has only missed eight games since 2020. Game-time was at a premium during the 2022/23 season for Kelleher, where he made just the four appearances across the league and both domestic cups, conceding eight times.

But during the 2021/22 campaign, Liverpool played every available to them after the reaching the final of all three cup competitions, which meant that there were more opportunities for the keeper to start. That resulted in eight games in which he managed to keep four clean sheets which included featuring in all of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup games as he was trusted enough for the final - and he repaid Klopp’s faith by helping to win a penalty shootout at Wembley.

If he is to go, there will be Premier League interest as it has been reported that the likes of Brighton and Brentford are keeping an eye on him as there are plenty of suitors for their first-choice goalkeepers. If he does leave he will have played 21 times and been part of a squad that won five trophies in total.