Paul Fennessy reports from FAI HQ, Abbotstown
IRELAND INTERNATIONAL Caoimhín Kelleher has been backed to star in the Premier League next season ahead of his reported €21 million move to Brentford.
The 26-year-old has long been a second-choice goalkeeper at Liverpool behind Alisson, but Irish teammate Jake O’Brien believes his fellow Corkman will prove he is among the best goalkeepers in the top flight once he gets the chance to play regular football.
“If it goes through, it’s a great move for him, to become a number one in the Premier League,” O’Brien said. “I think everyone knows how good he is and how high his ceiling is. He can push on and do great things.
“It’s a difficult one because he is number two at Liverpool, but he’s obviously got a really good ‘keeper ahead of him. He’s definitely up there with the keepers in the Premier League and I think next year he’ll show that, that he’s up there with the best and I think he’s proven that in the games he has played for Liverpool, that he can be up there with some of the best ‘keepers in the league.
“Brentford have done well this season, so it’s a club where he can progress and do a lot at.”
While there is mutual respect between the pair, O’Brien admits they don’t often meet up outside of football despite living close to one another.
“I think that’s just because in football, you’ve got other things going on. He lives in the same area as me, a lot of players are, I suppose it would be difficult if we were seen together as Merseyside rivals, some fans wouldn’t take it well.”
O’Brien had to show similar patience to Kelleher in the first half of the season, which he mostly spent on the bench.
However, the defender has since become a regular with the Toffees after David Moyes succeeded Sean Dyche as manager.
“Six months back, I was in a different place, I wasn’t where I thought I’d be when I came to Everton, I worked hard every day in training, it happens in football, sometimes managers favour you and others don’t, a lot can happen in six months.
“I think when \[David Moyes\] came in, he just knew the club really well and what worked for the club, and I think he just got to know the players really well and what works for the team.
“He didn’t come in and try to change too much all of a sudden. He was very open-minded when you were speaking to him, and I’m grateful that he’s given me a chance. So everyone knows that he knows what he is doing, and that has shown in the last six months with how we finished strongly in the season.”
While O’Brien has now settled at Goodison Park, one player facing an uncertain future is Seamus Coleman.
The veteran club captain is out of contract this summer, but his Ireland teammate hopes he sticks around.
“He’s a huge part of the club at Everton, everyone knows that, he’s highly respected at the club, what he’s going to do next July, I don’t know. He can do what he wants, if he wants to be a coach or a player, whichever one he wants to be.
“But I think it’s important we keep him at the club, he’s at the heart of everything. He was only caretaker manager for a week or so, but it was great, he’s like that all the time, always driving standards in training, he was no different as caretaker that week, he is always driving standards.”