Jake O'Brien believes that becoming a number one goalkeeper in the Premier League will be a good move for Caoimhin Kelleher, as the Ireland stopper edges closer to an Anfield exit.
Kelleher has been given permission to leave the Ireland camp to sort out his club future, with the keeper reportedly undergoing a medical at Brentford and on the cusp of securing an £18million (€21.3m) switch.
Everton defender O’Brien expects his fellow Cork native to continue to showcase his quality in the English top flight should the move to the London club be completed.
"It doesn’t take for me to say how good he is," said O’Brien, speaking at this afternoon’s Ireland press conference in Dublin. "I think everyone knows how good he is and what he’s achieved over the last couple of years.
"If it goes through, it’s a great move for him, to become a number one in the Premier League. I think everyone knows how good he is and how high his ceiling is. He can push on and do great things.
"It’s a difficult one," added O’Brien, when asked if Kelleher was already one of the best keepers in the division. "Because he is number two at Liverpool, but he’s obviously got a really good keeper [Alisson] ahead of him.
"He’s definitely up there with the keepers in the Premier League. I think next year he’ll show that, that he’s up there with the best, and I think he’s proven that in the games he has played for Liverpool."
O’Brien knows the importance of establishing a regular place in whatever team or whatever position, having endured a tough start to his career at Everton following the move from Lyon at the start of the season.
The towering defender struggled for opportunities early in the Everton league campaign, and O’Brien admits that his situation was very different six months ago.
A lot has changed at the Goodison Park club as Everton changed managers by bringing former boss David Moyes back to replace Sean Dyche, while they also had to contend with the emotion of bringing down the curtains on the storied stadium ahead of a move to the Liverpool dockside.
"Six months back I was in a different place," said O'Brien. "I wasn't where I thought I'd be when I came to Everton. I worked hard every day in training, it happens in football, sometimes managers favour you and others don't, a lot can happen in six months.
"I think when he [Moyes] came in, he just knew the club really well and what worked for the club and I think he just got to know the players really well and what works for the team.
"He didn’t come in and try to change too much all of a sudden. He was very open-minded when you were speaking to him and I’m grateful that he’s given me a chance.
"Everyone knows that he knows what he is doing and that has shown in the last six months with how we finished strongly in the season."
The Youghal native is competing with an Everton legend, and the Ireland captain, on the right side of defence, and while there is speculation as to what the future holds for Seamus Coleman, O’Brien believes that he is the heartbeat of the club.
"He's a huge part of the club at Everton, he's highly respected at the club, what he's going to do next July I don't know," said O’Brien.
"He can do what he wants, if he wants to be a coach or a player, either one he wants to be, but I think it's important we keep him at the club, he's at the heart of everything.
"He was only caretaker manager for a week or so, but it was great. He's like that all the time, always driving standards in training, he was no different as caretaker that week."
Looking ahead to the double-header, starting against Senegal on Friday in Dublin ahead of an away trip to Luxembourg four days later, O’Brien is hoping to build on his first competitive start against Bulgaria in March and take momentum into the upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.
"It was great to get my first competitive start but it's something I want to build on," said O’Brien. "I am confident I can start and push forward.
"We go into every game confident we can win. We have a good enough squad and staff to qualify for the World Cup and it would be great for the country if we can do that.
"We all feel we are good enough to be at the World Cup. This [Senegal] is a different type of opposition to what we are used to, but it's important we play these types of teams and players, different opposition, and know that we are more than good enough to take on these teams."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Senegal from 7pm Friday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
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