MusaCaoimhin Kelleher, a Nottingham Forest target, has been asked to leave Liverpool for his career.
The 25-year-old was on the wanted list of the Reds at the end of the summer transfer window as they looked to strengthen their goalkeeping.
An offer for the player, reportedly consisting of £7 million and Matt Turner, was rejected and is said to be well below the £30 million the Irishman was valued at by Anfield.
Forest ended the window with two senior goalkeepers instead of the traditional three. Carlos Miguel arrived from Corinthians to provide competition for Matz Sels, while Odysseas Vlachodimos was sent off and Turner was loaned out.It is not yet
known whether the club will start looking for a goalkeeper again in January, but if not, it will certainly be on the to-do list at the end of the season. And if they do take an interest in Kelleher again, they will hope he will listen to the advice of former Ireland international Shay Given.”Caoimhin played 26 games last season and in that time he showed he has the talent to become a number 1 in the Premier League,” Given told The Mirror.
“However, he will turn 26 at the end of this month and, to be brutally honest, he needs to move away from Liverpool if he wants that to happen.
“Kelleher would be disappointed when (boss Arne) Slot publicly stated that Alisson (Becker) will always be his first choice of goalkeeper because everyone wants to go to training every day believing they are fighting for a place in the team.
Every professional footballer must have the hope of keeping his jersey if he gets a place in the team and performs well.”Caoimhin doesn’t have that. He has been told in no uncertain terms that he will always be behind Alisson – and let’s be honest, he is up against a player who is one of the best in the world.
“Caoimhin will be 26 this month. He has done his time at Liverpool. That’s no disrespect to a great club, but now they are starting to think they can’t keep Kelleher much longer because he is a quality player.”Maybe Caoimhin has been too kind so far because sometimes you have to force a decision.
That’s not nice. He has been very loyal to Liverpool and he will not want to upset the fans.”But at the same time you only have one career, one life and one chance to make the most of what you have. In ten years’ time he could be 36 and people will be talking about him being over the hill.”
The summer pursuit was the second time Forest have failed to prise Kelleher away from Merseyside since rejecting a £15m bid last January. Earlier this season, he himself admitted that he had made it clear to Liverpool that he wanted regular football – either at Anfield “or somewhere else”.Given added:
“I look at him and I think this guy is the real thing. He proved over a long period of time last season that he is top quality. I’m sure a lot of Premier League clubs are looking at him. He is mature, fully cooked and ready to blossom.”
Musa
