Rumour Mongering: Reds Expect Summer Departure for Kelleher

Caoimhín Kelleher has been the perfect backup goalkeeper for Liverpool FC. He has quietly accepted taking a back seat to starter Alisson Becker without complaint, and he has performed well every time he’s been called upon.

For more than two years he has slotted in for cup matches and the rare occasion where Becker has been unavailable, and he’s done everything that could be expected of him on those occasions. He has earned every minute of the limited playing time he has been given, and it was wonderful to see him backstop the reds in last season’s FA Cup and League Cup Final victories over Chelsea.

Each successful outing has been increasingly bittersweet for the Liverpool faithful who expect the Irishman will leave LFC to chase a starting role sooner or later, and it seems the Reds are also preparing for this eventuality.

According to Football Insider, the Liverpool brass are expecting Kelleher will ask to leave the Reds this summer in hopes he can move to a club that can offer regular first-team football.

The 24-year-old, who is currently under contract through 2026, believes he is ready to be the main man between the posts at his next club, and is said to be open to a move within the Premier League or elsewhere in Europe,

It will be sad to see the man who fired home the winning penalty in the League Cup final last year move on, but none will begrudge the talented keeper wishing to prove he’s ready for a bigger role if that’s truly what he wants.

His contract situation and his immense potential could make him a valuable asset in a summer where the Reds are expected to spend big, so it could be a smart move for all parties involved to grant him the move should he request it.

However, it would also create another hole in the roster that would have to be addressed in the transfer market. With third-string keeper Adrián on a deal ending this summer, Kelleher’s departure would leave Alisson as the only senior keeper in the squad going into next season. Though, acquiring a promising young keeper or a cut-rate aging vet should still leave a tidy sum from a Kelleher sale to put toward the midfield rejuvenation.