Jurgen Klopp believes Caoimhin Kelleher should be Ireland’s number one

Caoimhín Kelleher

Caoimhín Kelleher Credit: Michael P Ryan (ETPhotos)

The Corkman started once again for Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

The 25-year-old, like last week, started in the Premier League against Brentford as first choice Alisson Becker was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

The Reds ran out 4-1 winners with Darwin Nunez, Alexis MacAllister, Mohammed Salah, and Cody Gakpo all on the scoresheet. 

After the match, Jurgen Klopp praised the Irishman for his performance and also questioned why Kelleher is not the first choice keeper for the Republic of Ireland. 

“He was outstanding. 

“I don’t know exactly who is the number one in Ireland, but if they have a better goalie than him, I have to say respect". 

In January, it was reported that Nottingham Forest was interested in signing the goalkeeper, but Liverpool rebuffed the enquiry. Klopp stated that Liverpool ‘need’ Kelleher post-match.

"He is outstanding. This year we gave him more games than he had previously.

“It is well deserved as we need him, and we need him with rhythm. Now the situation with Ali shows that makes absolute sense.

"We will see how long Ali is out, but Caoimh is exceptional. Today he was, wow. It was an A-plus performance.”



Kelleher has made 14 appearances for Liverpool this season and is set to start in goal next Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Chelsea.

In other news, the League of Ireland returned on Friday night, read here five reasons why you should be excited for the season ahead.

About Luke Jordan

Luke joined the extratime.com team in 2022 and is the current host of the extratime.com podcast.

He’s been a follower of the league since 2007 after the FAI Soccer camps gave out … View Full Profile