One journalist hasn’t entirely ruled out the possibility of a return to Liverpool for a player who helped the Reds to Premier League glory in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.
There had been reports from Uruguay over a potential second coming at Anfield for Darwin Nunez amid rumours of a possible exit from Al-Hilal, but Fabrizio Romano has said there’s ‘nothing ongoing’ in that regard.
Another player to have left Merseyside after the 2024/25 title triumph is Caoimhin Kelleher, who’s since established himself as a guaranteed starter at Brentford, a status he never enjoyed for LFC due to the continued brilliance of Alisson Becker.
In an article for The Athletic assessing Liverpool’s goalkeeping situation once the Brazilian departs (his contract expires in 12 months’ time), Gregg Evans addresses the possibility of the Republic of Ireland international coming back to Anfield at a future stage.
The journalist wrote of Kelleher: ‘There was no buyback clause in the deal which took him to west London, but that is not to say he would not appeal in the future – especially if he performs well again next season.
‘Finding a full-time replacement for Alisson is going to be tough, but Kelleher is one of the few to have shown he is capable of fitting in. Ideally, though, Liverpool are able to promote from within, with all eyes on how the Brazilian’s understudies progress in the coming campaign.’
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Realistically, it’s hard to envisage the Irishman returning to Anfield in the foreseeable future, even if Alisson were to depart next year and the goalkeeping berth becomes up for grabs.
Kelleher has undisputed first-choice status at Brentford, where compatriot Keith Andrews has shown demonstrable faith in him, and the Bees are a stable, progressive club who enjoyed a terrific season in which they just missed out on a first-ever European qualification.
If circumstances were to change and the 27-year-old were amenable to having another crack at becoming a regular starter for Liverpool, we’d 100% have him back – as Evans wrote for The Athletic, he ‘highlighted why he deserves to be the first-choice goalkeeper for a top-half Premier League club’ in the 2025/26 campaign.
At present, Giorgi Mamardashvili is in line to ultimately succeed Alisson as the Reds’ number 1, although the Georgian still has a bit to prove if he’s to fully convince fans and pundits that he’s capable of reaching the levels shown by the Brazil colossus.
In truth, we’ll probably get to enjoy one final campaign with the iconic 33-year-old between the sticks, and then will come the unenviable task for his eventual successor to live up to the standards shown by our current first-choice stopper.
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