Conor Bradley, who previously admitted his Liverpool career was over, has been given the thumbs up by Manchester City manager Josep Guardiola.
Conor Bradley was placed in pole position to succeed Trent Alexander-Arnold as the right-back, fearing he had no future at Liverpool. Despite signing a new four-year deal in May, Bradley’s chances in the first team dimmed after Arn Slott signed Jeremy Frimpong.
Then, with neither player able to establish themselves on the right side of the defense, Slott opted to use Dominik Szoboszlai in that role, potentially relegating Bradley to third choice. It wasn’t the first time that Bradley’s Anfield future looked a little bleak. In the summer of 2022, he moved on loan to Bolton Wanderers.
Looking back last year, he said that his long-term future may lie elsewhere.
“But at the time, you didn’t really believe it. You thought, ‘Loan, this is like I’m done here.'” But you have to keep trying. I played about 50 games for Bolton, which was the best for me at the time. It shaped me into who I am today, transformed me from a boy to a man.
“I’m very grateful to Bolton for the opportunity they gave me to play so many games there. It made me ready to come back to Liverpool and give my best.”
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Bradley may have felt similarly during the first few months of this season, but the 22-year-old showed his quality against top-flight opponents Real Madrid and Manchester City, playing alongside Vinicius Junior and an inspired Jeremy Doku.
He was one of the team’s better performers in the 3-0 defeat at the Etihad and was praised by manager Pep Guardiola, whose assistant Pep Lijnders, Jurgen Klopp’s former number two, reminded him of his quality at Anfield.
City manager: “I was really, really impressed with Connor at right-back. Pep Lijnders said he could do everything. We know how good he was against Vinicius against Madrid. And Jeremy[Doc]was aggressive with and without the ball. He had a great game.”
Bradley will hope his recent form is enough to cement his place in the slot team after the international break. For now, he is focused on Northern Ireland’s crucial World Cup qualifiers, away to Slovakia on Friday and at home to Luxembourg on Monday.
A win in both would put Michael O’Neill’s side in a good position to secure a play-off spot, but could potentially clinch a further spot if group leaders Germany drop down the table.
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