Liverpool's Rebuild: Kelleher and Collins from Brentford
Andoni Iraola has barely had time to find his office at the AXA Training Centre, but the scale of his first Liverpool rebuild is already clear. At the top of the list: the goalkeepers and the heart of his defence.
Two names from Brentford, of all places, are being pushed towards his in-tray.
Kelleher’s Liverpool question
Caoimhin Kelleher left Anfield a year ago to escape the shadows. He wanted games, not handshakes and warm-ups. Brentford paid an initial £12.5m and handed him the No.1 role he craved. He responded with the kind of season that makes bigger clubs sit up.
Now, with intrigue swirling around Liverpool’s goalkeeping department, the idea of a return refuses to go away.
Alisson Becker remains the hinge on which everything turns. Liverpool triggered their option earlier this year to extend the Brazil international’s deal to the end of next season, but Juventus have been circling. While Arne Slot had hinted the club might face a decision this summer, the stance inside Anfield has long been clear: they want Alisson to stay. Reports in Brazil now indicate he has chosen to resist Juventus and remain on Merseyside for at least one more year.
That choice would echo through the rest of the goalkeeping group. Giorgi Mamardashvili, who made 20 appearances this season, has been linked with a move away, with claims his representatives have offered him on loan to clubs in Italy. The dominoes are lined up. One push, and the whole structure shifts.
Into that uncertainty steps Kelleher’s name.
Former Republic of Ireland, Chelsea and Aston Villa midfielder Andy Townsend believes the 25-year-old has grown into a goalkeeper ready for a stage above Brentford.
“I think he's a very reliable goalkeeper. He's developed into someone that I could see a bigger club than Brentford coming to take,” Townsend said, speaking to OLBG. “When I look at Chelsea's goalie (Robert Sanchez), I don't think he even comes close to Caoimhin Kelleher.
“Brentford know they've got a good one, but it's got to be a bigger club. Brentford had a good season, but it's got to be a club like Liverpool or Chelsea. I remain convinced that he could do that.”
Kelleher, though, has already lived the life of a backup at a superclub. Six major honours with Liverpool, countless nights on the bench, only a handful of chances to show his worth. That experience has hardened his stance.
“He doesn't want to go anywhere now where he isn't the number one, he's shown he can handle that,” Townsend added. “He's the national team number one by a distance. The last thing he wants to do is go to a club like Liverpool and find himself playing only 10 or 15 games a season. He's done that already. If he goes anywhere, he wants to go in as a number one.
“I could totally see him going to Newcastle and being number one there, or Chelsea. If Alisson does decide to leave Liverpool, they could do a lot worse than Kelleher. They know him very well and whenever he played for Liverpool, he was always very dependable.”
That is the crux for Iraola. If Alisson stays, Liverpool’s former understudy would only return on his own terms. If Alisson goes, the club must decide whether Kelleher is the man to inherit the gloves or whether his next step lies elsewhere.
Brentford again: Collins for the back line?
The goalkeeper puzzle is only half of Iraola’s early headache. Centre-back is the other glaring gap.
Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are his only senior central defenders after the departure of Ibrahima Konate. The club holds high hopes for Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni, but both youngsters are working their way back from serious injuries. Promise, yes. Immediate reliability, no.
That is why Townsend has pointed Iraola back towards Brentford for a second time – this time for their captain, Nathan Collins.
“He's done really well, Nathan Collins,” Townsend said. “I know that Spurs have just signed (Marcos) Senesi from Bournemouth. I think Nathan Collins would have been a good fit for them.
“A boy playing in London, going to another London club, that can help. I think he could be a very talented centre-half. He had too many mistakes in him 18 months ago, but he seems to have eradicated a lot of that. And he's a tall lad, he's quick enough, and he can play. So I think he's ready for an opportunity now to go and show that he can go up a notch. I think he can do it, I really do.”
Collins has long been talked about as a defender with high upside, but Townsend’s assessment hints at a player who has started to marry potential with consistency.
“But whether Liverpool will be that and whether they would pay Brentford the sort of money they would want, I'm not sure, that is the only concern. But I think Nathan's got a lot of ability,” he continued.
“I said a couple of years ago he was a little bit soft with his defensive work, giving away easy goals. I think now he's got better in that respect. There is a more ruthless element to what he's doing defensively now, he's a bit more solid.
“Because of that, I think certainly there's a number of clubs that could do with a player like him and would benefit.”
Liverpool, short of centre-backs and staring at a season of high expectation, fit that description as well as anyone.
Iraola, only days into the job, already finds his new era framed by familiar names. A former understudy who wants to be a star. A rising centre-half ready to jump a level. Both at Brentford. Both potentially part of the solution.
Whether Liverpool are ready to pay Brentford’s price – in fees, in promises of game time, in trust – will tell plenty about how bold this new regime is prepared to be.
