Nottingham Forest were linked with a move for a new goalkeeper in the days running up to the transfer deadline last month – but their efforts proved to be in vain.
The Reds currently have Matz Sels as the club’s number-one goalkeeper, with Carlos Miguel backing up the Belgian international.
Sels signed for the club in January from Strasbourg. He signed when it became apparent that Nuno Espirito Santo didn’t trust Matt Turner or Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Both of the goalkeepers signed last summer have now departed the City Ground, with Turner joining Crystal Palace and Vlachodimos signing for Newcastle.
A number of goalkeepers were linked with a move to Forest ahead of the transfer deadline, with one of them Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Forest-linked Caoimhin Kelleher given mixed review on international duty
The Reds made an offer to Liverpool ahead of the deadline of around £20 million plus Turner going in the opposite direction – which the Anfield giants rejected.
Kelleher is valued at £25 million but Forest didn’t feel the need to bolster their ranks with a goalkeeper this summer and subsequently chose to stick rather than twist.
On Saturday he played for the Republic of Ireland against England but was unable to prevent a 2-0 defeat for his country.
After the game, Irish publication Balls scored him a 6/10 for his efforts and perhaps highlighted some issues within his game right now.
They wrote: “Kelleher made a super one-on-one save up against Anthony Gordon in the lead-up to Declan Rice’s opener. He could now have done anything more for either of England’s first-half goals.
“Though his distribution was sometimes lacking, he was a strong presence in the Irish box and was solid when called upon.
“Made a brilliant save in injury time to prevent Saka from making it three.”
Forest could look at Kelleher again in January
Sels has been a steady pair of hands during his time at Forest but at 32, he is hardly viewed as a long-term solution.
Kelleher has been at Liverpool for a number of years and at 25 he would surely welcome playing regular first-team football in the near future.
The goalkeeper is a regular on the international scene but it will annoy him somewhat that he’s facing another six months at least without playing club football.
Sels will likely be on trial with Espirito Santo between now and the January window and he showed by signing him last January that he’s not afraid to make big calls.
It would appear that Kelleher still has some things to brush up on and if he irons those out perhaps Forest will make another play to sign him again in January.
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