Liverpool fans have been warned that the club may struggle to keep one player in particular at Anfield for much longer.
For much of the summer, it had seemed as though the Reds might’ve cashed in on Caoimhin Kelleher after he indicated just after the end of last season that he was no longer content with being a backup to Alisson Becker.
The Irishman has had a prolonged run in the team over the past two months due to our number 1 being injured, although the ex-Roma custodian is set to return shortly, and Arne Slot has stated that he’ll go straight back into the team when he’s fully fit.
O’Shea: Liverpool could struggle to keep Kelleher for much longer
Speaking on punditry duty for Premier Sports‘ coverage of Liverpool’s 3-3 draw against Newcastle on Wednesday night, John O’Shea is expecting plenty of transfer interest in Kelleher next year and thinks that the 26-year-old could move on from Merseyside.
The ex-Manchester United defender – who knows the player well from his role as Republic of Ireland assistant manager – said (via Balls.ie): “I think he is going to have lots of teams all around Europe looking for him, and I’m sure they will be knocking down the doors very soon.
“He is more than capable of taking that decision himself, and I know for a fact there will be lots more teams looking at him because I just think he is a number one top European goalkeeper.
“He needs to be number one now, and he knows that, and I think Liverpool won’t be able to stop him. It could be London, it could be Newcastle – you never know.”
If Kelleher goes, Liverpool must reap big money for him
Despite Kelleher making a late error in Liverpool’s rollercoaster clash at St James’ Park, his stock has risen considerably since the start of the season, with the Irishman pulling off a number of big saves in helping the Reds to open a sizeable gap at the top of the Premier League.
Neil Mellor has jumped to the 26-year-old’s defence after his rare aberration against Newcastle, and with good reason, as the ‘keeper also made an important stop from Anthony Gordon to keep the score at 1-0 in the first half.
Unfortunately for the Cork native, what happened at the end of the match could hasten Alisson’s return to the starting line-up, and the competition for a place in the team will further intensify next season once Giorgi Mamardashvili arrives from Valencia.
If Liverpool reluctantly give their blessing for Kelleher to depart in 2025 – something which seems entirely plausible – they should be able to leverage his superb performances this year to command a hefty transfer fee for him.
Considering that FSG banked more than £50m from the sales of Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho to Brentford – neither of whom made anywhere near as much impact at Anfield as the Irish goalkeeper – we expect that our number 62 would reap £30m at an absolute minimum, ideally more.
