Given Makes Van Dijk Comparison To Explain Why Big Clubs Bottled Kelleher Signing

The positivity surrounding the Republic of Ireland MNT continues to grow after a 1-1 draw against Senegal at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night.

Kasey McAteer scored his first international goal in the 21st minute, as Ireland built on strong performances from the March fixtures against Bulgaria. While Senegal snuck in a late equaliser past Caoimhín Kelleher, the Irish squad left fans hopeful, with World Cup qualifiers looming just 12 weeks away.

Kelleher’s Form Fuels Optimism

Hope can be a dangerous drug for Irish football supporters—but Caoimhín Kelleher’s standout form is a huge source of positivity. The Blackrock-born goalkeeper, who recently signed with Brentford after years as Liverpool’s dependable backup, continues to impress.

The initial fee of £12.5m was a surprise to many - and the source of a few interesting theories. Yet, his save in the 52nd minute against Senegal - tipping the ball onto the crossbar - only reinforced the idea that Brentford got a steal.

£18million for this fella is the bargain of the century @BrentfordFC pic.twitter.com/llNvxE3fto — Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) June 6, 2025

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Shay Given and Didi Hamann Praise the Brentford Signing

Shay Given played 134 times for Ireland and it was interesting to get his perspective on Kelleher's form and his move to Brentford. Sitting beside Didi Hamann in the RTÉ studio, Given sounded generally stunned at the bargain Brentford had got in signing the Corkman.

He looks the real deal. Look at the problems that Man United have. Chelsea, they don't have a real goalkeeper. Some bigger clubs in the Premier League. At twelve and a half million, in the current climate, and I say this like I'm putting my neck on the line, and I'm not putting my neck on the line, he's worth every penny if not a lot more.

Hamann interjected to say Kelleher - who he says is one of the top 5 keepers in the Premier League based on this season's performances - is now the team's star player.

We've talked about [Evan] Ferguson before and who is the player who's going to take us to the World Cup. I think the biggest trump card now is [Kelleher]. I don't think there's a keeper in the group anywhere as good as he is.

Given expressed genuine surprise that the Premier League's so-called "big clubs" didn't move for Kelleher. He made an interesting comparison with Kelleher's move to Brentford and his former teammate Virgil Van Dijk's move to Southampton from Celtic back in 2015 for £13m.

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That's why I'm surprised he's went to Brentford. Unless clubs have said, let's have a look at Brentford. We know they're a selling club. He can be a number one for a year or two and then he can go again, he's still plenty young enough. When you look at a player maybe like Van Dijk in the past. When he left Celtic, only Southampton had a go at him before he made that step to Liverpool. It's like the bigger clubs think they have to take a step back before they take a step forward.

There is a good bit of change at Brentford at the moment. Kelleher's new manager is the bookies favourite currently to be the next Spurs manager, while the team's best player looks certain to join Manchester United.

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However, if he continues this form, there's every chance that Kelleher will earn a much bigger payday in the not too distant future.

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