Kelleher leaves Reds to sign five-year Brentford deal

Caoimhín Kelleher has left Liverpool and completed a move to Premier League side Brentford.

The Ireland goalkeeper returned to England on Monday to finalise the deal, which has been confirmed by the London club on social media.

"The Republic of Ireland international has penned a five-year contract; the club has an option to extend his stay by a further 12 months," said the club, regarding the goalkeeper who will join international team-mate Nathan Collins at Brentford.

It is understood that the Bees will pay an initial £12.5million for Kelleher, who had only one year left at Anfield, with the rest due in performance-related instalments, according to media reports.

Kelleher made 20 appearances last season, largely in two spells when Alisson Becker was injured, and wanted more first-team football.

The arrival at Anfield of Valencia's Georgia international Giorgi Mamardashvili, a £29m move agreed last summer, reduced the Cork native’s chances further.

Cork amateur soccer club Ringmahon Rangers will now be in line for a €3million payday.

Kelleher came up through the age grades at Ringmahon and eventually lined out for their senior team before making the move to Liverpool in 2015.

The Cork club are understood to have agreed a 20% sell-on fee with Liverpool when Kelleher moved to Merseyside and are set for a windfall payment in the coming days.

Director of football Phil Giles said: "I am very pleased to welcome Caoimhín to Brentford. We have scouted him in the past and were aware that he had a year to go on his contract with Liverpool this summer.

"When Mark Flekken had the opportunity to move to Bayer Leverkusen, we immediately thought about Caoimhín as his replacement.

"As well as being a very good goalkeeper, I've rarely met a player for whom everybody has such positive words to say about his personality and character. I’m therefore confident he’ll be an excellent addition to the squad."

First-team goalkeeper coach Manu Sotelo added: "Caoimhín is a young keeper full of talent who has already proven how he can perform in the Premier league as well as Europe.

"He is calm and obsessed with improving. His best quality is his agility and he is a clever goalkeeper, with positioning and awareness being key elements of his game.

"With us, I’m confident he will achieve the next level in terms of performance and show the potential he has.

"I’m looking forward to working with him."

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