Bradley ‘ready to step up’ for Liverpool – O’Neill

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill says Conor Bradley will not be “fazed” by competition at Liverpool next season.

The 21-year-old has featured 28 times for the Anfield club this season and picked up a Premier League medal with Arne Slot’s side.

With Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure this summer, Bradley will hope to establish himself as first-choice right-back next season, although the club are expected to make Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong their first summer signing.

“Conor’s not stupid. He’s playing, arguably, in one of the top three teams in Europe, they’ve won the Premier League and won it convincingly,” said O’Neill after naming Bradley in his squad for friendlies against Denmark and Iceland next month.

“You have to expect competition and Conor knows that, whatever form that comes in.

Should Frimpong come in, O’Neill believes that the dynamic of that competition will be different for Bradley than it was when vying for minutes with Alexander-Arnold.

“He provided that competition for Trent but he was trying at that point in time to dislodge a player that was very, very established at the club, a much-loved player and a player that had been very successful at the club,” he added.

“I think whatever happens now at Liverpool, that competition will be different because it will be a newer player coming into the club if they choose to do that, but Conor’s already proven that he’s ready to step up.

“I think you see that the manager there more than trusts him.”

That trust has recently been underlined by a new, long-term contract, and O’Neill feels that “stability” will be a benefit to a player he has handed the captain’s armband on two occasions.

“Conor’s not really driven by contracts. He’s driven by opportunity to play, and that’s quite refreshing in the modern game,” he said.

“I think that having that stability will help him, but he’s driven by minutes and he wants to make sure that he gets as many minutes as possible for Liverpool.

“He wants to play in the big games at Liverpool. He comes here [with Northern Ireland], he plays in the big games, he’s captained the team here, and I think you see that in his performances here.