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Brentford have completed the signing of Caoimhín Kelleher from Liverpool in a deal that could rise to £18m.
Liverpool had wanted more than £20m for the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper but, with only a year remaining on his contract and Kelleher keen for regular football, the Premier League champions have accepted an initial payment of £12.5m plus add-ons from Brentford for the 26-year-old.
The deal for Kelleher was confirmed shortly after Mark Flekken, Brentford’s first-choice goakeeper last season, sealed a €10m move to Bayer Leverkusen. The two transfers were linked. Kelleher passed a medical with Brentford on Monday before returning to international duty with Ireland.
Kelleher had made no secret of his desire to become a No 1 having impressed when deputising for Alisson. He made 20 appearances for Liverpool last season, 26 in 2023-24, and his opportunities were likely to be restricted further at Anfield next season given the arrival of Georgia international Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia.
“I don’t think it was very difficult for me to leave [Liverpool],” said Kelleher. “I felt for my own career that the time was right for me to go, to be a No 1 and to play every week. Once I knew Brentford were in for me, it was definitely one I was really excited about and wanted to do as quickly as possible.
“When I come back for pre-season, all focus will be on what I want to do next year; to work on certain goals and what I need to improve on, and to have a really good season for Brentford.”
West Ham and newly-promoted Leeds were also interested in Kelleher, who joined Liverpool from Ringmahon Rangers 10 years ago. The amateur club from Cork are in line for a £2.5m windfall having negotiated a 20% sell-on fee as part of the transfer.
Kelleher departs having won the Premier League with Liverpool and played an influential role in the Carabao Cup final victories of 2022 and 2024. He scored the decisive penalty in the 2022 shootout success against Chelsea and was a hugely-popular figure at the club.
Sales will be important to Liverpool as they embark on an ambitious revamp of Arne Slot’s title-winning squad. The Premier League champions, who made £10m by allowing Trent Alexander-Arnold to join Real Madrid 29 days before his contract was due to expire, remain in talks with Leverkusen over the club record transfer of Florian Wirtz. Liverpool’s opening offer of £109m (€130m) was rejected by the German club over the weekend but negotiations are ongoing. Leverkusen value the Germany international at £126m (€150m).
Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez is also a target for Liverpool and likely to cost around £45m. A new striker is expected at Anfield too, with Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz wanted by clubs in the Saudi Pro League. Federico Chiesa, Harvey Elliott, Kostas Tsimikas and Ben Doak, who could cross the Merseyside divide to Everton, are other potential departures.
Photograph: Jaimi Joy/Reuters
Flekken made 77 appearances for Brentford after arriving from Freiburg in May 2023 and the 31-year-old missed only one Premier League match last season.
“When Mark Flekken had the opportunity to move to Bayer Leverkusen, we immediately thought about Caoimhín as his replacement,” said Brentford’s director of football, Phil Giles. “As well as being a very good goalkeeper, I’ve rarely met a player for whom everybody has such positive words to say about his personality and character. I’m therefore confident he’ll be an excellent addition to the squad.”
“We were expecting Mark to be our goalkeeper for many more years. However, when Bayer Leverkusen made it known that they wanted to do this transfer, and Mark made it clear that he was interested in moving closer to home and with a possibility of Champions League football, we turned our attention towards how all parties could make this happen,” Giles added. “Mark has done a great job for us and leaves with our thanks and support.”
