LIVERPOOL BOSS JURGEN Klopp has said the club will not be signing Joe Hart from Manchester City this summer.
The Reds manager has had his troubles with both Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius this season, although the former has reclaimed the number one jersey and put in some solid performances in recent weeks.
Talk is rife that the German coach could return to the transfer market to buy a new keeper at the end of the season, and England international Hart has been linked with a move.
Out-of-favour under Pep Guardiola at City, Hart is currently on a season-long loan in Serie A with Torino but he would welcome a return to a top Premier League club.
However, when asked about the 30-year-old today, Klopp ruled out the possibility of him joining.
He also name-checked Irish underage international Caoimhin Kelleher while explaining that he is happy with the progress his young goalkeepers are making.
“We always think about the squad, and that includes the goalkeepers,” Klopp said at Melwood today.
“Is it about Joe Hart? Usually we don’t talk about things like this, but in this specific case we can.
“He is a fantastic goalkeeper — the goalkeeper of the England national team — so he is highest quality. But we have the highest quality goalkeepers already.
“So he is not for us, not in the moment and hopefully not in the future.
“That’s not because of Joe, it’s because we have two strong goalkeepers and [Danny] Wardy is at Huddersfield, playing a brilliant season, he’s ours so we will bring him back next season and then there is more competition.
The young ones have made really big steps with Kamil [Grabara] and Caoimhin [Kelleher] and the situation around our goalkeepers is really good.”
Cork native Kelleher — a regular for the Boys in Green at U19 level — joined Liverpool’s academy from Ringmahon Rangers in 2015 and he has since been lining out for their U18s and U23s.
Reds U18 goalkeeping coach Neil Edwards recently said that he has made “a very promising start to life in England” and is making “good progress”.
Caoimhin’s 21-year-old brother Fiacre, a centre-back on the books at Celtic, is currently on-loan with Peterhead in Scotland’s League One.
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