Caoimhin Kelleher: The Ready-Made No 1 for Chelsea or Newcastle
Shay Given has seen enough. In his eyes, Caoimhin Kelleher is no longer a promising understudy or a dependable cup goalkeeper. He is a ready-made No 1 – and a potential game-changer for two clubs still wrestling with the most unforgiving position on the pitch.
The former Newcastle and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper believes Brentford’s on-loan Irishman could transform either Chelsea or Newcastle this summer, if Liverpool allow it.
Kelleher, the calm in the storm
Given has been tracking Kelleher’s rise closely and is convinced the 25-year-old has outgrown the shadows.
Speaking to BOYLE Sports, Given floated the prospect that Chelsea or Newcastle could move for him in the coming window. The catch, as always with Liverpool, is control.
“Could Chelsea or Newcastle come in for Kelleher this summer? Possibly,” he said. “It would depend on Liverpool and whether they can activate any sort of clause to sign him themselves to stop another club picking him up.”
The picture at Anfield is complicated. Alisson remains the undisputed first choice, the benchmark for modern goalkeepers. As long as the Brazilian stays, there is a ceiling on what Kelleher can be there.
“A lot will depend on Allison because you wouldn't bring Kelleher back right now if Alisson's staying for the next two seasons,” Given pointed out.
That is where Newcastle and Chelsea enter the conversation.
Chelsea’s lingering problem
Given’s verdict on Chelsea is blunt. For all the money spent since 2018, they still haven’t solved the goalkeeping riddle.
“I think Keller would be well-suited for Newcastle right now. I think he'd be well suited for Chelsea too,” he said. “Chelsea are the club who have surprised me a little bit by not bringing someone in, and I say that as someone who does like Robert Sanchez.”
He does like Sanchez. But he doesn’t trust him.
“I stuck up for him a lot last season but he does keep going over old ground with some of the mistakes he makes,” Given admitted. “He can pull off some unbelievable saves and you think this guy’s the real deal only for him to have a mad rush of blood to the head at the edge of the box and halve someone in two.”
Those “rush of blood” moments have come to define Chelsea’s uncertainty at the back. They have cycled through big fees and big reputations in goal without finding the steady hand that lets a team breathe.
Given is adamant that waiting another year is not an option.
“I feel that signing a new goalkeeper is something that could happen at Chelsea this summer, and if it’s not Kelleher maybe it’ll be someone else, but that’s a position they need to strengthen in this window, not the next window, but now.
“Xabi Alonso is in place now and he might have seen enough from Robert Sanchez. I’m not sure. I definitely think Newcastle and Chelsea want the strength in that position and Kelleher would be a good signing for either of them.”
Liverpool’s succession puzzle
Liverpool, for their part, have already moved in the market, bringing in Georgian international Giorgi Mamardashvili. The signing has been framed as part of the long-term planning for life after Alisson.
Given isn’t fully convinced.
“Mamardashvili arrived at Liverpool with a big reputation and he’s done okay so far but I’m still not convinced that he is going to be the future number one after Alisson,” he said.
Kelleher, in contrast, has already shown what he can be when given the keys at Brentford.
“I am now even more convinced about Kelleher given he’s proven he can be number one at Brentford and he obviously knows Liverpool inside and out.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he could come back to the club and what I like about Kelleher is that he brings a real calmness to everything he does. He never seems fazed or fluffed up about anything. He could make the best save in the world and just get up like nothing has happened and set about organising his defenders for a corner.”
Calm, unflustered, relentless in his standards. It is exactly the profile Chelsea, and Newcastle, have been missing.
Brentford: proving ground, not ceiling
Kelleher’s time with Brentford has changed the conversation. No longer a promising deputy at Liverpool, he is now a proven Premier League starter, handling the weekly grind rather than the occasional cup tie.
Kelleher’s spell with the Bees, Given argues, has underlined that he can live with the pressure at the top level.
“I think he’ll continue to develop as a player. I hope he stays at Brentford for at least another season. It’ll do him no harm,” he said. “He’s proving to everyone that he has what it takes to play regularly every week, and that comes with a different side of pressure than being on the bench and coming in and out of the team.”
The work, crucially, is not confined to matchdays.
“He’s already working on other stuff away from the pitch, in the gym and training, to build up his upper body strength to improve and get better, and he will. I only see positive things for the future for Caoimhin.”
For Chelsea, the equation feels stark. They crave stability, fewer wild charges from their last line of defence, more authority in the quiet moments. Newcastle, too, are looking to harden their spine for the seasons ahead.
Kelleher has shown he can bring calm to a frantic league. The question now is simple: which club will trust him to do it from week one, as their undisputed No 1?
