Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes star may depart this month, with Championship player ready to replace him: report

According to reports,

Liverpool is watching a Championship player

to take the position of a star

who appears certain to leave.

Since 2019, Kelleher has served as Alisson’s backup in goal,

making 32 appearances across all competitions,

just seven of which have come in the Premier League.

His appearances have mostly been in cup competitions,

which has contributed to his reputation

as a bit of a penalty shootout specialist.

But since Alisson has a three and a half year deal,

and the Irish international is now 25 years old,

it would reasonable if Kelleher felt that

it would be better for his career to go out

and become the unquestioned number one somewhere else.

The Sun has connected the dots on that front

and indicates that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is worried

that Kelleher would leave this summer, even if they also note

that a January departure won’t be approved.

Nobody on Merseyside will have read it, though.

Anthony Patterson, the goalkeeper for Sunderland,

is reportedly being lined up in case Caoimhin Kelleher requests

to go in search of new opportunities

and a regular spot in the first team.

Patterson, an academy product of the Black Cats,

is the man rumored to be in the frame

in the event that Kelleher leaves.

The 23-year-old decisively established himself

as the Black Cats’ stopper of choice in the

second half of the 2021/22 season, helping them

to gain promotion from League One.

After making it to the Championship play-off semifinals

the previous season, where they were defeated by Luton,

who went on to win the league, Sunderland is expecting to

make it even better this time around.

With one of the strongest goalkeeping records in the competition,

Patterson’s team is presently outside the top six on goal differential.

The fact that Patterson stopped Swansea’s Jamal Lowe

from scoring a penalty earlier this season

will excite League Cup supporters. In November,

Patterson preserved one of his eight Championship clean sheets.

Get more news at sportupdates.co.uk