Exclusive: Southampton to end shock Liverpool pursuit with new contract for promoted star

Exclusive: Southampton to end shock Liverpool pursuit with new contract for promoted star

Liverpool are on the verge of missing out on Alex McCarthy, as PaperTalk can exclusively reveal that the experienced goalkeeper is poised to finalise a new contract with current club Southampton.

McCarthy has been on Southampton’s books since August 2016, when he joined the Saints from Crystal Palace in a £4million deal. Since then, the Englishman has made 147 appearances for Southampton and kept 38 clean sheets.

McCarthy spent the majority of the 2023-24 season on the bench for Southampton but stepped up in the latter stages of the campaign following an injury to usual No 1 Gavin Bazunu.

McCarthy played a key role in Southampton gaining immediate promotion back to the Premier League, keeping clean sheets in the play-off semi-final against West Bromwich Albion and in the play-off final victory over Leeds United.

The shot-stopper’s contract with Southampton is due to expire on Sunday and this has alerted several other clubs to the possibility of landing him on a free transfer.

In May, it emerged that Liverpool are surprisingly monitoring McCarthy’s situation. Reds boss Arne Slot thinks McCarthy would be a great backup for Alisson if Caoimhin Kelleher manages to force a move away from Anfield.

But Southampton have no plans to let McCarthy leave. Sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk that Russell Martin’s side have entered into contract talks with the 34-year-old and have quickly made progress.

McCarthy is now set to pen a new contract at St Mary’s, which will force Liverpool to identify other potential replacements for Kelleher.

Liverpool transfers: Alex McCarthy to stay at Southampton

With Bazunu expected to be sidelined until 2025, Martin is determined to keep hold of McCarthy and the experienced keeper could pick up a decent amount of game time as Southampton try to stay in the top flight in the 2024-25 campaign.

McCarthy already has Premier League experience, having featured in the competition for Southampton, Palace, Queens Park Rangers and Reading.

McCarthy is even an England international, though his only cap came in the 3-0 victory over the USA in November 2018.