Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net

Virgil van Dijk urged Caoimhin Kelleher to stay focused as Liverpool closes in on the Premier League title.

The Ireland international started a league game for the first time since December on Wednesday night as he kept a clean sheet during the Merseyside derby victory over Everton.

Kelleher's performance came against the backdrop of him wanting to play regular first-team soccer, which could lead to him leaving the club in the summer.

The 26-year-old has appeared 19 times for Liverpool this season — far more than a second-choice goalkeeper would ordinarily expect to play — in large part due to Alisson's injury issues, but Arne Slot has consistently maintained that the Brazil international is the first-choice pick when available.

Read More.

With Giorgi Mamardashvili set to arrive from Valencia this summer to provide further competition in between the sticks, Kelleher will almost certainly leave, but Van Dijk is urging him to stay focused for as long as he is at Liverpool.

Asked what his advice would be for Kelleher ahead of an expected summer exit, Van Dijk responded: “Be a Premier League champion, and that’s what the aim is for the rest of the season and what happens next after the season – we’ll see then

The club's made that decision to get another goalkeeper (Mamardashvili) and from the outside looking in, it looks like they've made a decision to go in a different direction."

Meanwhile, Van Dijk's message to Kelleher also applies to himself, as well Reds teammates Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who could all leave Anfield as free agents at the end of the season.

All three players' current deals are due to expire on June 30, and they have been free to negotiate with foreign clubs since New Year's Day.



Trent Alexander-Arnold and Caoimhin Kelleher are both likely to leave Liverpool this summer

It emerged during the international break that Alexander-Arnold has virtually agreed to join Real Madrid at the end of the season, while Salah and Van Dijk could yet extend their stays on Merseyside.

Madrid has been monitoring Alexander-Arnold's situation over the last two years and has made a habit of signing big-name players on free transfers recently, with David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger and Kylian Mbappe all letting their contracts at their previous clubs wind down before moving to the Bernabeu.

While Alexander-Arnold is contracted to Liverpool until the end of June, Madrid could sign him as early as June 1 after the Premier League took advantage of the option to open an exceptional transfer window between June 1 and June 10 — an option which was offered to FIFA member associations which have clubs competing in this summer's revamped Club World Cup, which gets underway on June 14.


For more news relating to Everton, visit our sister site EFC Live.