rewrite this title Liverpool transfer news: Brentford complete £18m deal for Caoimhin Kelleher as Mark Flekken leaves

Brentford have completed the signing of goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool for an initial £12.5m.

Performance-related add-ons could take the eventual fee to £18m.

Kelleher, a Republic of Ireland international, is someone Brentford tracked for a long time.

They were interested before they signed Mark Flekken in 2023, but Liverpool have only been open to selling since securing Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia last summer.

Brentford had been facing competition from other clubs for Kelleher, including Leeds and West Ham, but Thomas Frank’s side have a strong relationship with Liverpool, having secured Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho from Anfield last summer.

Kelleher, capped 22 times by his country, secured a second Premier League title with the Reds this season but only started 10 games as Alisson continued ahead of him in the pecking order.

Flekken completes Leverkusen move

Elsewhere, existing Bees No 1 Flekken has completed a move to Bayer Leverkusen.

Leverkusen and Brentford agreed a fee in the region of £11m (€13m) inclusive of add-ons earlier on Tuesday, meaning he will link up with former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag in Germany.

Analysis: Kelleher deserves chance to shine

Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz:

Even though he was Alisson’s No 2 at Anfield, Kelleher played his part in Liverpool’s title success. He featured 10 times in the Premier League as he covered for the Brazilian through injury and unavailability.

And Kelleher performed very well, finishing in the top dozen goalkeepers for save percentage and passes completed, which is what a Brentford goalkeeper needs to do quite a bit of.

That’s because Flekken – who Kelleher will replace as the Bees’ No 1 – finished top out of all Premier League goalkeepers in those two metrics. Brentford allow lots of shots on goal, while they also play a mix of clever direct long balls or risky passes out the back to soak up pressure.

So Kelleher finishing second to Flekken in passes attempted per 90 last season is a positive sign.

With countryman Nathan Collins and former Liverpool defender Van den Berg important parts of the Brentford defence, it feels like a well-suited move for both goalkeeper and his new club.

Follow the transfer window on Sky Sports

The first of two summer transfer windows is upon us – and there is no better place than Sky Sports to get all the latest transfer news and rumours.

Use the Sky Sports app and website for all your updates in our dedicated Transfer Centre and Premier League club blogs, plus live Q&As with our reporters throughout the summer.

The Transfer Show returns to Sky Sports News from Sunday June 1 for the start of the pre-Club World Cup window and will then be on every weeknight at 5pm and 7pm until the deadline on Tuesday June 10.

The summer transfer window will open again on Monday June 16 until Monday September 1 – with the deadline brought forward to 7pm this year.