Liverpool Football Club have confirmed that they have completed contract negotiations with Caoimhin Kelleher and he has signed a new long-term deal.
The 22-year-old was in talks with the club for months and while the plan was previously for him to go out on loan and get more first-team experience, he will stay at Anfield.
Despite Adrian signing a new contract last week, Kelleher will be second-choice behind Alisson Becker.
Kelleher delighted with new deal
He told Liverpoolfc.com: “I am happy to get it over the line and finally done; it was in the pipeline for a few months with negotiations and stuff, so I am delighted to get it done.
KIRKBY, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 05: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Caoimhin Kelleher of Liverpool during a training session at AXA Training Centre on February 05, 2021 in Kirkby, England. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“For me, it was a positive moment to commit my future to the club for the next few years. It’s such a big club and it’s an honour to be a part of it, so when I got the chance to sign for a few more years I was obviously delighted.
“I just want to keep my progress going at the club, really.”
Who else will sign a new contract?
The Liverpool Echo reported on the 10th of June that Michael Edwards is working on extending the contracts of Mo Salah, van Dijk, Fabinho, Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.
The Reds have become a well-oiled machine in recent years and while sporting director Edwards has received a lot of praise for his ability to sign top-class players and offload deadwood for high fees, that’s just part of his job.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – JANUARY 19: Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrate victory after the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester United at Anfield on January 19, 2020 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
An underrated part of his role at Anfield is to ensure that key players are happy and are inclined to sign new contracts and extending the likes of Salah and van Dijk’s terms is arguably more important than making new signings.
As the 2020/21 season proved, Liverpool are a second rate side without van Dijk and if you also took Salah out of this side, it would be a shadow of the team that romped to a 99-point Premier League title win.
What are Liverpool’s transfer priorities?
Signing a new midfielder is vital but given the wealth of options available to Jurgen Klopp in the engine room, the priority is to sign a versatile attacker.
Speaking on his podcast, Fabrizio Romano said: “[Liverpool] are working to sell players. So, the priority also to bring in a new attacking player is to sell an attacking player.
ZEIST, NETHERLANDS – JUNE 22: Donyell Malen of Holland during the Training MenPress Conference Holland at the KNVB Campus on June 22, 2021 in Zeist Netherlands. (Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)
“Shaqiri will be one of them because he has some proposals from Italy and [elsewhere], so Shaqiri will be out of Liverpool in some weeks if the right proposal will arrive.
“It’s the same for Origi. They want more than €20million (£17.1m) for Origi so we’ll see if someone will make this proposal.”
As we reported yesterday, they are interested in Malen from PSV Eindhoven but will only open talks with the club and his agent, Mino Raiola, after he gets back from the EUROs.
Meanwhile, interest in Yves Bissouma is currently suspended but that has been the case for weeks since Anfield Central learned that Liverpool were told he will cost £50m this summer.
Confirmed and completed: Liverpool reach long-term contract agreement with 22-year-old
