As Caoimhín Kelleher is primed for a £40m transfer, which other Irish players could move?

Caoimhín Kelleher is expected to leave Anfield in the coming weeks. Not by choice, but necessity.

“They are looking at me as the Liverpool goalkeeper for the next 10 years,” said Giorgi Mamardashvili, the 24-year-old Georgian international, who arrives from Valencia to potentially unseat Alisson Becker.

Kelleher has seen the writing on the wall for over a year.

“I’m good enough to be a number one,” said the 26-year-old Corkman during this week’s Premier League title celebrations. “Good enough to play week in, week out – and that’s what I’m looking to do.”

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After making 20 starts this season, which included clean sheets against Aston Villa, Manchester City and Real Madrid, the Liverpool hierarchy are expected to accept bids in the region of £30-40 million (€36-48m).

Liverpool declined Nottingham Forest’s bid of £15 million for the goalkeeper in January 2024. Kelleher, who has 22 caps for the Republic of Ireland, is contracted until 2027, when he could leave the club for free.

Aston Villa are prospective buyers as they seek to replace Argentina international Emi Martínez. Newly promoted Leeds United could also be interested but the opportunity of Champions League football might turn him towards Newcastle United or Chelsea.

Evan Ferguson struggled during his loan move to West Ham and will hope to rediscover some form back at parent club Brighton and Hove Albion. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA Wire

An alternative move for Kelleher, and Ireland forward Evan Ferguson for that matter, could be a big European club like Bayern Munich. Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer turns 40 next March, so a new No 1 might be on manager Vincent Kompany’s shopping list. Alternatively, the Irish pair might follow Scottish duo Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay to Italy.

McTominay has excelled in Serie A since Manchester United sold him to Napoli last summer, scoring his 13th goal of the season against Caligari last weekend to clinch the Scudetto.

Kelleher has more options than Ferguson after the 20-year-old‘s career stalled at Brighton and Hove Albion before an unsuccessful loan spell with West Ham United. Ferguson did accumulate 21 appearances in the Premier League this season but he only started three matches and scored just one goal.

Amid the low point of an enormously promising career, Ferguson delivered for Ireland with important goals against Finland and Bulgaria. Following an injury-interrupted two years, a solid pre-season at Brighton might be the best he can hope for as he attempts to get back on track.

Nathan Collins is an outlier among the Irish in English football. The Ireland skipper was the Premier League’s iron man in 2024/25, playing every second of Brentford‘s 38 matches, although Matt Doherty’s Indian summer at Wolverhampton Wanderers is equally impressive.

Doherty benefited from Vítor Pereira replacing Gary O‘Neil as Wolves manager last December. The Portuguese coach turned the benched wing-back into a starting right-centre-half as the club finished comfortably clear of relegation.

Ipswich Town's Irish defender Dara O'Shea (left) could return to the Premier League if a bid is tabled in the next couple of months. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images

Doherty made 30 appearances and, at 33, the Swords native reclaimed the right-back slot in Heimir Hallgrímsson’s Ireland side over Everton’s Jake O‘Brien and Séamus Coleman.

O‘Brien had a similar experience at Goodison Park to Doherty at Wolves. Under Sean Dyche, the big Cork defender was not given the opportunity to live up to the £17 million (€20.1m) Everton paid Lyon for him last summer. On David Moyes’s arrival in January, however, the player was repositioned at right-back as The Toffees finished 13th.

Moyes, who signed Coleman from Sligo Rovers for £60,000 in 2009, offered his club captain a contract extension but this appears to be in a player-coach capacity. In between Dyche and Moyes, the 36-year-old co-managed Everton along with Leighton Baines to a 2-0 win over Peterborough in the FA Cup.

“Without doubt Séamus will be part of the group,” said Moyes. “I need him here. His leadership, his sort of message he has among the players and in the dressing room is so strong it would be wrong of me to let him go.”

That’s the good news. With Burnley and Sunderland following Leeds into the Premier League, while the barely competitive Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton were relegated, there could be a record low of just seven Irish players left in the English top flight come the 2025/26 campaign.

Chiedozie Ogbene is returning from surgery on his Achilles tendon but Ipswich teammates Sammie Szmodics, Dara O‘Shea and Jack Taylor might follow his lead by attracting interest from the newly promoted clubs.

In 2023, Ogbene broke into the Premier League by signing for Luton Town. When the Hatters were relegated, Ipswich came in for the winger. O‘Shea had a similar experience, moving from relegated Burnley to Ipswich in 2024, so a return to Turf Moor to be reunited with Josh Cullen is not out of the question.

Szmodics impressed on his first foray into the Premier League, scoring four goals off the left before an ankle injury in January spoiled his and Ipswich’s hopes of survival. Plenty of clubs with midtable aspirations would value the 29-year-old‘s attacking ability.

Ireland's Finn Azaz was one of Middlesbrough's best players this season. Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

Similar can be said of Finn Azaz. He has cemented his position in the Ireland team and contributed 12 goals and 11 assists for Middlesbrough in the season just ended. FA Cup winners Crystal Palace are rumoured to be interested in him.

Both Southampton and Ireland missed Will Smallbone’s presence in midfield this season while Gavin Bazunu’s recovery from an Achilles tear prompted a loan move to Standard Liége in Belgium that was cut short by a knee issue.

Bazunu might seek another move if Aaron Ramsdale remains The Saints’ first choice goalkeeper in the Championship.

If international football was only played with goalkeepers and defenders, Ireland would be a feared football nation.

Josh Keeley had a standout season on loan to Leyton Orient from Tottenham Hotspur. Named by Hallgrímsson in the squad to play Senegal and Luxembourg ahead of Mark Travers, who is out of favour at Bournemouth, Keeley was named Orient’s young player of the year, in recognition of his 16 clean sheets, and he won goal of the season for a 99th minute header that brought the cup tie against Oldham Athletic to extra-time.

Even Pep Guardiola was impressed by the Meath goalkeeper after Manchester City knocked Orient out of the cup in February. “We were lucky at the end because they had chances, but we created a lot - their keeper was really, really good.”

Richie Wellens, the Orient manager, concurred. “Josh has got good character for a young kid and he’ll only go on and develop potentially into a top-level Premier League goalkeeper if he keeps his feet on the ground.”

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