Liverpool to reward Caoimhin Kelleher with a final place – “We want to keep him”

Liverpool to reward Caoimhin Kelleher with a final place – “We want to keep him”

Liverpool Boss Jurgen Klopp faces a difficult situation balancing act on keeping Caoimhin Kelleher happy as Liverpool’s No. 2 goalkeeper, but a start in the League Cup final is part of the plan.

Kelleher has now made six appearances for the Reds this season, more than in each of the previous two campaigns, as the Irishman excels in his role as Alisson’s backup.

“Caoimhin will play if he’s fit,”he told reporters “As a football manager, you obviously have to consider a lot of things. We consider Caoimhin as an outstanding goalie. Not a good goalie, an outstanding goalie.

“And we want to keep him here, and to keep him here you need to make sure of a few things. The different games he will get, before a season you think about it, you talk about it.

“It’s all about performing, of course – if he wouldn’t have performed on the level he performed when he played, I would maybe see it differently.

“But he shows that he deserves all the trust and faith that we have in him. That’s the situation.”

Klopp suggests that Liverpool will continue to take steps to convince Kelleher he will get the opportunities he deserves at Anfield, rather than seeking a move away.

Coaimhin Keheller in action for Liverpool against Chelsea(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

However, with Alisson having signed a new contract of his own in the summer, it is hard to shake the belief that, at some stage, the No. 2 will either need to take over as No. 1 or push for the exit.

As Klopp explained, Kelleher is already showing he has the mentality to challenge Alisson, pointing to his response in a conversation over the Brazilian starting against Arsenal.

“My idea at this moment is Caoimhin will play [in the final]. Let’s see until then, but I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t do it,” Klopp continued.

“Because Caoimhin deserves that, he brought the team there.

“Last week against Arsenal, I had to explain to Caoimhin why he’s not playing.

“I usually don’t do that, it’s clear I usually don’t explain to Caoimh why he’s not playing in the Premier League, but it was his competition and I thought Ali needs the game, because of lacking rhythm after Covid and all these kinds of things.

“What I really liked [was] Caoimhin was not like ‘oh yeah, I understand’. He was like ‘why?’.

“So he matures in all departments – and that’s good, that’s absolutely good. That’s exactly the goalie we wanted.

“I said it before, it’s really a John Achterberg project. Because when I came here, not all of the people in the club were thinking ‘oh yeah, Caoimhn Kelleher will be the next one.

“There was one person and it was John.

“He’s a goalie who if you have to buy him, he’s really expensive. We now have the best in the world and a really, really good one. That’s a good situation.”

In other news, Liverpool makes key decision on Roberto Firmino amid interest from Barcelona