Latest news with #CAOIMHÍNKELLEHER
The Journal
5 days ago
- Business
- The Journal
Ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher completes permanent move to Brentford
LAST UPDATE | 56 mins ago CAOIMHÍN KELLEHER has completed a move to Premier League side Brentford from Liverpool. Shortly after Brentford confirmed the exit of their Dutch international 'keeper Mark Flekken to Bayer Leverkusen, the club announced the arrival of Kelleher. Kelleher has signed a five-year contract at Brentford, with the option of a further year. The reported transfer fee is an initial £12.5 million (€14.8 million) that may rise to £18 million (€21.3 million) if a series of performance-related add-ons are reached. Kelleher's schoolboy club Ringmahon Rangers are due a windfall thanks to a 20% sell-on clause brokered with Liverpool. The club do not yet know precisely what they will earn and when it will be paid, as it depends on the size and the structure of the deal agreed between Liverpool and Brentford. A portion of their windfall will also be owed to Kelleher's former club, Rockmount. Based on reported figures, Ringmahon's windfall could be between €2.5 million and just shy of €3 million. 'I'm buzzing, I'm really happy to be here,' said 26-year-old Kelleher. 'I don't think it was very difficult for me to leave [Liverpool]. I felt for my own career that the time was right for me to go, to be a no.1 and to play every week. 'I heard of some interest a number of weeks ago. Once I knew Brentford was in for me, it was definitely one I was really excited about and wanted to do as quickly as possible. Advertisement 'I like the way the manager and the coaching staff go about their ways. It seems like a really close, tight knit, family club. They've got a really good track record of improving and developing players which is really what's drawn me to the club.' Kelleher joined Liverpool from Ringmahon when he was 17, and made his first-team debut under Jurgen Klopp in an EFL Cup tie in 2019, having been an unused substitute in the Champions League final over Tottenham earlier that year. Kelleher was also part of the Liverpool squad that won the Premier League in 2019/20, though did not make a league appearance. He made Premier League and Champions League debuts for Liverpool the following season, and scored the winning penalty in the 2022 Carabao Cup final shootout victory over Chelsea. He also played all of the victorious 2024 final win over the same opponents, but tasted defeat in last season's decider against Newcastle. Though unable to dislodge first-choice 'keeper Alisson Becker, Kelleher was an able deputy during the Brazilian's injury absences, and he played 10 games in each of the last two seasons, thus playing an important role in Liverpool's league title victory last season. He also saved a Kylian Mbappe penalty in a long-awaited 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in the league phase of the Champions League. Kelleher made 67 senior appearances at Anfield, winning a record four penalty shootouts as a Liverpool player, the most of any 'keeper in the club's history. Klopp described Kelleher as the 'best number two in the world', but across the last two seasons, Kelleher made no secret of his desire to establish himself as a number one, either at Liverpool or elsewhere. His Anfield days were numbered from the moment Liverpool signed Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia last summer on a deal that sees the Georgian international arrive this summer. Kelleher might have left Liverpool a year ago, but the club rejected a late offer from Nottingham Forest. He ultimately stayed to pick up another major medal, before moving to the side that finished ninth in the Premier League last season. Written by Gavin Cooney and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won't find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women's sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here .
The 42
5 days ago
- Business
- The 42
Caoimhín Kelleher returns to Ireland training ahead of proposed €21.5m move from Liverpool
CAOIMHÍN KELLEHER WAS back in training with the Republic of Ireland today after completing a medical ahead of his transfer to Brentford. The Cork native is set to leave Liverpool in a deal worth up to €21.5 million (£18m) and travelled to London yesterday to finalise the deal. Ireland assistant head coach John O'Shea confirmed the goalkeeper returned to camp and was involved in a session preparing for the visit of Senegal to Aviva Stadium on Friday. 'He trained very well. Listen, we've nothing to confirm yet. Obviously it's not for us to confirm anything. But listen, if it does happen, something happens. Fantastic. If it doesn't, we still have a very good goalkeeper on our hands either way. It's out there where he might have been or where he might have gone to. But we can't confirm anything yet,' O'Shea said. Advertisement 'Every scenario will be different. Like the manager has always stressed, we'd love our players to be playing. It's as simple as that. He's obviously at a very good club, has had success, and whatever happens next, hopefully he's playing. It's as simple as that. And we hope the same for all the squad, all the players involved over the last couple of squads, that they get themselves playing as much as possible. 'It just helps us because, listen, this man alongside me is so consistent and you can see in his performances for us the benefit of playing week in, week out, maintaining that consistency. That's what you want in a team because obviously the time-wise, when we get together, the limited time period we have, the more fitter the players are, the better it will help in the game.' Jason Knight was the player alongside O'Shea after training today and the former Manchester United defender, who left Old Trafford for Sunderland during his own playing days, expanded on what it's like when the time comes to leave one of English football's biggest clubs. 'It's not an easy thing for him (Kelleher) to do. He's proven the quality that he has every time he's been asked to go in as the number one for Liverpool, the run of games that he's shown, that he's been able to show the consistency that he's shown when he's had a run, that they haven't missed Alisson when he has been injured. 'I think that's what the whole of Europe and the whole of the world has seen when Caoimhín has been in goal for Liverpool. So, listen, whatever happens, I'm sure we'll get the benefit of it.' Ireland have a full squad to choose from so the likes of defender Josh Honohan, and midfielders Killian Phillips and John Joe Patrick Finn are in line for debuts that O'Shea insists will be important to build on the momentum from the Nations League play-off win over Bulgaria earlier this year. 'You want to have some of the fresh faces that we've had this week, [they've] have brought a new energy as well. We're getting them up to speed on how we like things done, how we want the team to operate, getting that understanding. 'I think that brings a freshness into the lads that have been here a good while as well. Obviously, the lads that are having a rest as such from what the manager has spoken about, they'll be thinking, 'I wonder how the other lads might get on'. That's what we need. We need that kind of freshness, but also that increased competition. And I think it's up to the lads that are here now to show, 'right, I'm in, I'm getting a chance, I'm involved, I need to stay here, I need to prove I can be needed here'. 'And I think that's the key element, increase that competition and then we get increased levels of performance… That's always the perfect scenario that the manager and the staff have a difficult decision to make. First and foremost, it's always a difficult decision to pick a team. But then when you're picking the squad, you're saying to the boys now, players that are maybe not here. 'They're looking in thinking, 'oh, if he does well, if he comes on, if he does well?' But behind all that is the goal to qualify for a major tournament, the goal to have the reliability of knowing that if he gets injured, this guy done brilliant for us, we know he's ready to go, seeing that they're able to mix into the group. 'They know the scenario of the group in terms of what the coaching staff are looking for, what the management is looking for. If someone really stands up and goes, right, I'm ready to go, it's a huge bonus.'
