Liverpool

Liverpool

Premier League • England

Liverpool star ‘up for sale’ as Jurgen Klopp removes once-acclaimed player from long-term plans

Marcelo Pitaluga, Joe Gomez, Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk and Caoimhin Kelleher

Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher could leave this year

Jurgen Klopp is ready to trim the excess from his Liverpool squad by putting one player up for sale ahead of the summer transfer window, a report has revealed.

Liverpool already know they are going to lose Roberto Firmino at the end of the season on a free transfer. The long-serving forward recently informed the club of his decision to leave for a new challenge.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano then followed the news up by confirming Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are also expected to leave at the same time when their contracts expire too.

There could be some further departures, too. James Milner’s future is up in the air as he approaches the end of his deal. However, he might have more of a chance of being kept on.

Recently, rumours that forward Diogo Jota could be sold have been played down by Football Insider. But the same website is now revealing a different member of Klopp’s squad who is at risk.

According to the report, Liverpool have put Caoimhin Kelleher ‘up for sale’ this summer. Currently acting as their backup goalkeeper, it has been thought for a while that he might move on to become a first choice elsewhere.

READ MOREFormer Liverpool keeper tears FSG to shreds for four-year transfer failure that has absolutely crippled Klopp

Now, confirmation has arrived that Kelleher can leave Liverpool in the next transfer window. In fact, Klopp ‘no longer [considers] him as part of his long-term plans’.

That is despite Klopp publicly praising the Irish shot-stopper in the past and describing him as someone he can always rely on if main man Alisson Becker is absent.

Kelleher could leave to clear Liverpool pathway

But the Liverpool manager now has a different vision for the future and is seemingly ready to streamline his goalkeeping department. Hence, the Reds will ‘listen to offers’ for Kelleher in the months ahead.

Interestingly, the report suggests Klopp wants to clear space in the goalkeeping ranks for younger academy options to progress. That may be an interesting development for Marcelo Pitaluga, who was recently linked with a couple of European giants.

For now, Liverpool will wait for an appropriate offer to arrive for Kelleher. At the age of 24 and with a contract lasting until 2026, he should have a decent, if not huge, market value.

Since graduating into the Liverpool first team, Kelleher has made 20 appearances for the club. Impressively, he has kept clean sheets in exactly half of them. It remains to be seen if he will get to add any more games to his collection with the club before he potentially leaves.

No suitors are yet named for him in the latest report, although there have been a few suggestions before. As things stand, Kelleher’s future is all to play for.