Paul Robinson believes Caoimhin Kelleher will be happy to stay at Liverpool but on one condition

Speaking to Football Insider, as quoted by Liverpool Echo, Paul Robinson has claimed that he thinks that Liverpool backup keeper Caoimhin Kelleher will be more than happy to continue at Anfield.

Kelleher’s heroics helped Liverpool clinch the Carabao Cup title against Chelsea this season. The young shot-stopper made numerous saves against the Blues and also showed no nerves while dispatching the deciding penalty during the shootout that eventually won Liverpool the Cup.

The Liverpool No. 2 keeper has been in the club’s ranks since 2015, showing promise through the youth levels before eventually being promoted as Alisson Becker’s deputy. Since then, Kelleher has done extremely well whenever he has deputized for Alisson in the Premier League and also in the cup games.

The Irish star has constantly been improving in between the sticks whenever given an opportunity. Despite featuring in just eight appearances for the Reds this season, he has been instrumental in the domestic cups for Jurgen Klopp’s team.

The 23-year-old Irish shot-stopper is a talent to watch out for and it comes as no surprise that there have been calls for Kelleher to move out in search of regular game time. However, Robinson has claimed that he expects the goalkeeper to continue at Anfield given that he is still being picked for the Ireland squad.

“He has got a fair bit of game time this season. The fact Klopp played him in the cup final says a lot. His international career has not been hampered by the fact he’s not the number one at Liverpool. If he was missing three-quarters of the season and not getting a chance at international level, that would be an issue.”

Klopp clearly trusts Kelleher and understands the sentiments of his players. The clearest example of this was when he picked the Irishman to start the all-important final in the EFL Cup against Chelsea despite Alisson being available for selection.

However, Robinson admitted that for a player of Kelleher’s quality, it may not be long before he wants to be the first choice goalie at Liverpool or elsewhere.

“As long as he is playing a certain percentage of the games and is his country’s number one I think he’ll be happy to stay. There will come a point where he will want to play every week though. He is not going to be one of these guys who sits on the bench for his whole career”

Destined to succeed, but somewhere else?

Caoimhin Kelleher is undoubtedly a huge talent and is destined for the top of the game. It may not be long before the Irish goalie is pursued by clubs who need a starting goalkeeper, given his impressive outings in a Liverpool shirt.

However, despite his obvious potential, it is very difficult to see Kelleher succeeding as a first-choice goalie right now at Anfield. Brazilian shot-stopper Alisson Becker is still just 29-years-old and granted that goalkeepers have a long shelf life, it would be tough to displace him from his throne for years to come.

If not for a drastic change in fortune, it looks extremely unlikely that anyone could replace the Brazilian between the sticks at Anfield for the foreseeable future. Kelleher can continue being an important squad player for the Reds but displacing Alisson may not be on the cards.

At 23, Kelleher is extremely young and has a lot of aspects of his game to develop. He may choose to stick around at Anfield for a little longer, accepting a bit-part role and developing his game under some of the world’s best as he looks to fine tune his skills.

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However, there will come a time when the Irish starlet will want to move in search of new pastures. The Reds still have Adrian who can step in if the need arises. The Spanish goalkeeper has not had the best of times at Liverpool but he can be an able deputy when required.

Liverpool also have the highly-rated 19-year-old Brazilian keeper Marcelo Pitaluga in their ranks. But, at least for the time being, we should be glad to have a quality backup goalie in our ranks. And as for Klopp, he would be more than smart enough to realize when and when not to play Kelleher so as to keep him satisfied at the club.