move to Brentford could be a ‘match made in heaven’ for Liverpool’s Premier League benchwarmer Caoimhin Kelleher.
After another year stuck behind the outstanding Alisson Becker in Jurgen Klopp’s pecking order, Liverpool’s number two appears to be weighing up his options.
Caoimhin Kelleher is not quite at the stage where he’s going to slap down a transfer request on Klopp’s desk. But, with his 25th birthday approaching, the Republic of Ireland international appears willing to listen to offers.
Tottenham, Brighton and Aston Villa have been linked, amid doubts over the futures of both Hugo Lloris and Emiliano Martinez.
Former Ireland winger Keith Treacy feels that Brentford may be the perfect fit, however, though the £11 million signing of Mark Flekken from Freiburg means that – regardless of what happens regarding David Raya’s future – Kelleher may not be guaranteed first-team football under Thomas Frank either.
Is Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher ideal for Brentford?
“There are options. I think Brentford would be a match made in heaven,” Treacy tells RTE. “I think, under Thomas Frank, they have this learning ethos that nobody gets on anybody’s back when they make mistakes.
“And I think Caoimhin would really thrive in that sort of situation.”
Klopp insisted last month that only an ‘extraordinary’ offer would see him part with Kelleher, amid claims that £15 million may be enough to twist Liverpool’s arm (The Athletic).
Ireland boss Stephen Kenny, meanwhile, spoke ominously about Kelleher’s future when saying that the talented shot-stopper ‘cannot afford’ to stay on the bench if he is to establish himself as his nation’s number one ahead of Gavin Bazunu
And Treacy is not surprised to see Kenny take such a hard-line stance over a man who played just one Premier League game in 2022/23; Kelleher hardly covering himself in glory in that 4-4, final day draw with Southampton.
“It’s not easy,” Kenny adds. “There’s a process you go through with a club like that, and I think and it wouldn’t be a surprise for him to move in the summer, and he knows that.
“I think he’s ready to go and play regularly because he needs to. 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.
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