Caoimhin Kelleher return or Gianluigi Donnarumma raid: Ex-Liverpool goalkeeper picks potential transfer targets as long-serving Alisson heads towards free agency

Brazil international Alisson has been on Merseyside since 2018, when he completed a £66.8 million ($90m) transfer from Roma. The South American shot-stopper proved to be one of the final pieces in an intricate trophy-winning jigsaw.

He has two Premier League titles to his name, a Champions League crown and four other major honours. In total, the 34-year-old custodian has taken in 346 appearances for Liverpool - with a goal even being added to his resume during a memorable meeting with West Brom in May 2021.

Having spent several years searching for a reliable last line of defence, those at Anfield are understandably reluctant to see their commanding custodian move on. He is, however, seemingly ready to bring an eight-year adventure in England to a close.

With no fresh terms on the table, Alisson will tread the same path that Mohamed Salah headed down when bidding his emotional farewells to Merseyside in 2026. A long goodbye continues to be taken in.

Huge boots will be left to fill in Liverpool’s first-team plans, with Georgian star Giorgi Mamardashvili yet to convince everybody that he is ready to step up and swap back-up duties for starting ones.

Who should the Reds have their eye on? When that question was put to Friedel, the former USMNT goalkeeper - who spent three years at Anfield in his playing days and was speaking in association with Grosvenor Sport - told GOAL: “I think there are a few very good keepers. [Diogo] Costa, [Unai] Simon, both excellent.

“You could also maybe try to get Kelleher back. He understands Liverpool. I thought at the time, when [Emi] Martinez wanted to move, I thought he could have been a good replacement. The problem is that Alisson still has years on him. So that would have been a difficult move to get and that ship's probably sailed.

“You could possibly look in the Premier League and the development of some others - Djordje Petrovic is an excellent goalkeeper. See how James Trafford develops at Leeds.

“There's quite a few good goalkeepers and Alisson isn't finished yet, he's still making some really good saves. Liverpool has some time to to be on the lookout, which is good. But there are some very good goalkeepers out there.”

Quizzed on whether Liverpool could ask questions of giant Italian keeper Donnarumma if Manchester City are stung with FFP-related sanctions that lead to them being relegated out of the Premier League, Friedel added: “Possibly.

“That could be a bit messy, but he could be another one they look at. I think there's more to come out of the City thing. I don't really think about their players as being available just yet.”

Republic of Ireland international Kelleher is a product of Liverpool’s academy system and took in 67 appearances for the club before joining Brentford for £18m ($24m) in the summer of 2025.

Athletic Club star Simon is a World Cup winner with Spain - as he keeps Arsenal’s David Raya rooted to the bench - while Porto stalwart Costa is an international colleague of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Serbian ace Petrovic has impressed across 18 months at Bournemouth, helping them into Europe, while Donnarumma is tied to a contract in Manchester through to 2030 and that deal will not be broken easily even if City are dumped out of the English top-flight.