Caoimhín Kelleher has signed for Brentford from Liverpool for a reported initial fee of £12.5 million (€15 million).
The Irish goalkeeper leaves the club after playing a significant role in Liverpool’s Premier League title win, as an accomplished understudy to first-choice keeper Alisson.
Looking for more regular and guaranteed first-team football, Kelleher has joined the London club on a five-year contract, where the club has an option to extend his stay by a further 12 months. The Cork man will join Ireland team-mate Nathan Collins at the club, who was ever-present in the Brentford team in the Premier League last season.
Brentford’s 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.”
Kelleher’s move to Brentford will also spell a €3 million pay-day for his former Cork club Ringmahon Rangers.
The payment to Ringmahon would be on account of a 20 per cent sell-on clause negotiated when Kelleher first joined Liverpool in 2015.
The sum, which could rise based on performance-related add-ons – which could increase the transfer fee to £18 million (€21 million) – would mark the largest sell-on sum ever received by an Irish club.
