Arne Slot delivers VERDICT on Liverpool player who will now step aside

Usually, your manager praising your performance is cause for celebration.

But if you wanted to leave a club so that you were no longer a second choice because you believed you play well enough to start - and then get praised for exactly that reason - well there’s a chance it could sting.

That is exactly what has happened to Caoimhin Kelleher this past week. The Irish shot-stopper was brought in in lieu of the injured Alisson Becker - much like he was 18 times last season.

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When asked about his goalkeeper situation and Kelleher’s performances in the past week against Bournemouth and West Ham at his pre-match press conference, new manager Arne Slot said:

“Of course we’re really happy with Alisson being back but I want to emphasise the fact that Caoimhin [Kelleher] did really well in the two games he was in goal for us, so another example of me having two, and I think even three, good options in certain positions.”

This is, one supposes, the point that Kelleher was making when he made his intentions clear in the summer that he would like to go elsewhere and be a full-time starter. With the deal for Georgian Euro 2024 hero Giorgi Mamardashvili being delayed until the start of next season, Liverpool rejected an offer from Nottingham Forest for Kelleher as his backup services would be required for at least another season.

And although the comments were meant for other positions, Slot’s comment that he has ‘two… even three good options’ in positions is a bit of a kick in the teeth, given Mamardashvili’s incoming.

Liverpool’s goalkeeper situation is perplexing. With the news that Barcelona are very interested in pursuing Alisson as a long-term replacement for the injured Marc-Andre ter Stergen - and the unretiring of Polish legend Wojciech Szczesny to sign for them for the rest of the season only doing nothing to help this - there is a chance Liverpool’s goalkeeper room could be entirely different next season than it is today.

There is also the possibility that, if Alisson leaves, Liverpool will want to retain Kelleher’s services for at least another season as their established goalkeeping setup will be back down to two again. 

Regardless, it’s a difficult situation for the Irishman, whose performances are making it increasingly difficult to keep him on the bench.