A potential club-versus-country dispute could be brewing after what one international boss has had to say about a current Liverpool player.
A few days before Gareth Southgate resigned as England manager, Heimir Hallgrimsson took charge of the Republic of Ireland, which of course is Caoimhin Kelleher’s national team.
The 57-year-old – who famously led Iceland to their shock win over the Three Lions at Euro 2016 – was asked by the Irish Mirror if he thinks the goalkeeper needs to move on from Anfield for the good of his career.
Hallgrimsson replied: “Of course, especially when he showed everyone that he can play at the highest level. It would be a shame if he’s not playing regularly after he has already shown everyone how good he is, the level he played at.”
Hallgrimsson will naturally take the view that he wants as many Ireland players as possible featuring regularly at club level, something which wasn’t the case for some of the nation’s more prominent names during the reign of his predecessor Stephen Kenny.
Kelleher hinted a few weeks ago that he was ready to move on from Liverpool in order to try and establish himself as an undisputed starter elsewhere (The Athletic), having been unable to displace the world-class Alisson Becker at Anfield whenever the Brazilian has been available.
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The 25-year-old had a prolonged period in the team last season when the Reds’ number 1 was sidelined with injury for two months, most notably starring in our Carabao Cup final triumph over Chelsea and putting in some ‘outstanding‘ performances (in Jurgen Klopp’s words), but overall his place in the pecking order is no secret.
Arne Slot won’t appreciate Hallgrimsson openly imploring our second-choice goalkeeper to change clubs, especially when the Dutchman is only getting his feet under the table this summer after replacing the iconic German.
Ultimately it’ll boil down to whatever Kelleher wants. We’d be thrilled if he were to reaffirm his commitment to Liverpool and we’d hate to lose a ‘keeper of his proven quality, but we’d also understand if, at this point in his career, he wants to be the emphatic main man for another club.
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