The 21-year-old could be the future at right back for Liverpool if Trent Alexander-Arnold departs at the end of the season as expected.
With many expecting Trent Alexander-Arnold to depart the club for Real Madrid in the summer on a free transfer, right back is one of the positions with the most question marks surrounding it with an eye to the 2025-26 season and longer term future.
News this week that the club is now actively looking to sign 21-year-old standout Conor Bradley to a new deal, though, hint that the future at the position might well be home grown, and on the evidence so far few will have many complaints about that.
According to The Liverpool Echo, despite signing a new deal in 2023 that runs through 2027, the club are actively seeking to get the rising star right back on improved terms to ensure a little stability and certainty should Alexander-Arnold in fact depart.
The Northern Ireland international broke into the first team under Jürgen Klopp last season, making 23 total appearances and setting himself out as one of the club’s most promising young talents. He has made 22 appearances so far this season for Arne Slot.
Bradley’s high-energy, hard-tackling game looks far more similar to what Andy Robertson has brought over the years on the left, though with more of a goal threat than Robertson—and more of a goal threat than would be expected from most fullbacks.
While Bradley wouldn’t provide the kind of incisive playmaking that Alexander-Arnold does, if there are any question marks surrounding his suitability as a long-term starter for a side like Liverpool they are likely not related to talent but rather to availability.
Bradley suffered a hamstring injury in December and re-aggravated it in Liverpool’s FA Cup defeat at Plymouth. However, it may be his fitness record is less about injury proneness and is simply a young player finishing growing and adjusting to senior football.