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Alisson scuppered Kelleher’s plans to leave Liverpool in Eredivisie loan switch, says Republic of Ireland boss Kenny
The highly-rated Irish goalkeeper was due to head for the Netherlands in the summer window, but an untimely injury at Anfield forced him to stay put
Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has revealed that Caoimhin Kelleher was supposed to leave Liverpool on loan over the summer, only for an untimely injury picked up by Alisson to scupper those plans.
A highly-rated product of the Reds’ academy system has seen just four first-team outings to date. That is because his path is blocked by Alisson, a man many consider to be the finest goalkeeper on the planet, and experienced back-up Adrian.
With minutes hard to come by, Liverpool had planned to send Kelleher to the Eredivisie in order to pick up valuable experience.
Alisson, though, was laid low in early October with a shoulder complaint, meaning that Jurgen Klopp needed to retain his full complement of custodians.
Kelleher has been forced to stay put as a result, much to the disappointment of the man himself and a national team coach eager for him to get competitive minutes under his belt.
Kenny told reporters ahead of the friendly clash with England at Wembley Stadium on Thursday: “We really need Caoimhin Kelleher to get matches under his belt as we feel he is ready to play for us
“He was supposed to go on loan to Holland, to a couple of clubs in the Eredivisie in the last window but when the first choice got injured at Liverpool, that move was pulled.
“He wants to go on loan, he was ready to play and certainly we feel we would have benefited from that - but it’s not easy to play at Liverpool, they are world champions at club level aren’t they, so it’s not easy to play there.
“He is good enough to play for Ireland, but he’s not playing matches so it’s an issue. He would have benefitted from that [move] we feel, but it’s not easy to play at Liverpool.”
While blocking Kelleher’s path in the last window, those at Anfield are aware of the need to get the youngster opportunities.
The Reds’ goalkeeping coach, John Achterberg, has said: “He would like to play games and obviously that would be easier if he went out on loan, but the problem for us is we need three good goalies and he is one of our three.
“For his development, a loan move would be his next step, but the club have to make sure they have everything covered in case we have a problem with our keepers and we know it would be hard to find a keeper as good as him if we let him go out on loan.”
