According to Sky Sports, Liverpool are not considering Borussia Dortmund right-back Julian Ryerson as a replacement for injured Conor Bradley. The Reds are said to be urgently considering a range of options in the winter transfer window. Barcelona are also thought to be interested in the Norwegian international, with Sunderland and Wolves linked with him since the summer.
Daniel Banjaki, Oscar Mingueza and Vanderson are also defenders who have been linked with Liverpool since last weekend. Bradley sustained a serious knee injury during the goalless draw with Arsenal and is expected to miss the rest of the season and will undergo surgery soon. According to a reporter from The Athletic, Liverpool hope he recovers in time for pre-season training this summer.
The newspaper also states that while the club do not intend to sign a permanent replacement for Bradley, they have not ruled out bringing in a temporary replacement.
This approach is said to also apply to long-term absentees Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni. Leoni is out for the season with a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee, while Isaac is out indefinitely with a fractured fibula and ankle injury.
Arn Slott spoke openly about Bradley’s setback after Liverpool’s win over Barnsley, saying the injury blow was devastating for both player and club.
He also praised the Northern Ireland defender’s progress and expressed disappointment at the cruel timing of the latest setback.
Slott explained: “Let’s talk about him first, because Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving, and Conor Bradley had already done really well in his place a few times last season, and he had done well the year before I came as well.”
“He felt like it was his turn, and I felt the same way. And he already missed a lot of games, mainly with hamstring issues, and then he comes back from there and joins the team and progresses and gets better and better and stays healthy. And then things like this happen.”
“Before the season started, he was thinking, ‘This has to be my season,’ and I was thinking the same thing, but playing maybe six, seven, eight games is a big blow for him. And I’m also thinking about Northern Ireland, who are about to go to the World Cup.
“So this is a big blow for him, but as a result it’s also a big blow for us, because you don’t want me to want to play Dominik Szoboszlai as a right-back.
“Jeremy Frimpong, he has to play a lot of minutes, he just came back from injury, he was out for three or four months, he didn’t play a lot of minutes. I liked him today too, by the way.
“But I have to make him available to play at the weekend and we go to Marseille and then we go to Bournemouth. In January we have six defenders available for nine games, so I have to manage him in the right way. And we are unbeaten in 11 games, so you have to give a lot of credit to the players who are fit.”
