Roy Keane’s scouting of Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher for Ireland shows potential

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“If Liverpool were playing out in my back garden, I wouldn’t watch them,” said Roy Keane in November 2017. Yet, in October 2018, he traveled to Merseyside on a cold, wet and windy Sunday to watch Liverpool under 23’s and one player in particular: Caoimhin Kelleher.

The goalkeeper is very highly rated both at Liverpool and by the Republic of Ireland, where Keane is assistant manager and who requested that he watch the 19-year-old.

Jurgen Klopp involved the youngster in pre-season and has been keen to keep him around, thought it would appear that his first team chances will be limited this year with Alisson Becker clear first choice and Simon Mignolet as good a back-up option as any side will find.

Kelleher is already an Ireland international at youth level and was called up to the under 21 squad earlier this year, though he has not been included in any of the squads throughout the 2018/19 season.

It is likely that his contract will be extended beyond the end of the current season, when it is currently due to expire, as coaches at the club see him as a rising star.

Keane making the journey to watch him at Kirkby on Sunday reflected just how far he could go in the game, but it seems unlikely that his call-up will be coming any time soon.