Gaelic football and League One ‘toughening up’ – why Liverpool are keeping Bradley

A one-club player is rare these days so perhaps Liverpool always knew a time might come when Trent Alexander-Arnold moved on.

The 26-year-old England international has been with the Reds since he was a child but with his contract set to expire, Alexander-Arnold has announced he is leaving Anfield and looks set to join Real Madrid.

But the prospect of his somewhat inevitable departure has been softened by the emergence of Conor Bradley in recent years.

The 21-year-old Northern Irishman has impressed when he has had to deputise – from Alexander-Arnold’s spell out through injury last season to his eye-catching display against Real in the Champions League last November.

Bradley first joined Liverpool’s youth academy in 2019 but had been affiliated to the club for much longer than that, having been at their Northern Ireland development centre since he was nine.

At that age, the defender – who was born in Aghyaran in County Tyrone – was a sport enthusiast, representing his school in Gaelic football, football, hurling, athletics and cross country running.

But it was mainly as a young footballer that those who coached Bradley saw just how big his potential could be.

One year earlier, the eight-year-old had been brought to the attention of Joe McAree, who had been at the forefront of youth football in County Tyrone for almost 50 years.

“Everyone else had gone home when the referee, Adie Laird, approached me,” recalled McAree in a 2021 interview with BBC Sport.

McAree was keen for Bradley to join the renowned Dungannon United Youth, which had seen many youngsters come through to forge successful careers in the professional game.

Because of his age at the time and distance from the set-up, though, it would be a couple of years before Bradley did sign for them. When he did, it was not as the right-back he would become in his professional career.

“He was a forward player for us, spraying the ball around the pitch,” recalled McAree.

Bradley made the permanent move to Liverpool when he was 16, joining the club’s youth academy on a two-year scholarship.

But so impressive was his form, he signed professional terms with the Reds just one year into that.

His big opportunity to prove himself in senior football came with a loan move to League One side Bolton for the 2022-23 season.

In total he made 53 appearances in all competitions during his spell with Wanderers and impressively swept the club’s awards, being named the club’s Young Player, Players’ Player and Player of the Season.

“It was an unreal season, it was everything I wished for and more,” said Bradley.

“To play that many games, that is what I wanted to go and do. It toughened me up a bit and it was vital for me.”

His form did not go unnoticed by then-Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, who brought him into the first-team fold for pre-season before the 2023-24 campaign.

At the start of last year Alexander-Arnold suffered a knee injury.

Klopp had been impressed enough by Bradley during the summer before to decide against signing another right-back and instead showed his trust in the youngster by handing him his full Premier League debut on 21 January, 2024 against Bournemouth.

It was a chance he took with both hands.

Liverpool won the game 4-0 with Bradley providing an assist for Diogo Jota’s second goal.

Ten days later he scored his first goal for the Reds and provided two more assists in a 4-1 success against Chelsea, earning him the man of the match award after a scintillating display.

“He was absolutely magnificent,” said former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler.

During his rise at Liverpool Bradley also swiftly developed into a Northern Ireland regular.

He had captained his national team at under-16 level before receiving a call to the senior team in May 2021, making his debut later that month as a late substitute in a 3-0 win against Malta.

Bradley’s first international goal came against Scotland in a 1-0 friendly win in March last year, before he capped a strong 2024 for his country with three more.

But aside from the goals it has been his combative displays for Northern Ireland that has delighted the fans from the moment he first broke through.

In September 2021, shortly after coming off the bench in a World Cup qualifier against Switzerland, he made a crunching tackle that prompted a huge roar from the Windsor Park crowd.

“The thing about Conor is he is aggressive,” said Jim Magilton, who won 52 caps for Northern Ireland and was on the books of Liverpool before he made a name for himself with Oxford United, Southampton and Ipswich Town.

“He tackles. People look at him as this quietly spoken kid but he’s got devilment – he couldn’t wait to make that tackle against Switzerland.

Bradley’s performance against Real Madrid earlier this season showed, once again, he is more than capable of stepping into Alexander-Arnold’s shoes.

But just how do the two compare?

Defensively, there are some key areas in which Bradley comes out on top.

Alexander-Arnold is rightly regarded as one of the best attacking full-backs in the world and it is here that he excels in a statistical head-to-head with Bradley.

Most noticeably, Alexander-Arnold plays more passes into the box and creates more chances on average, with 2.5 per 90 minutes compared to 1.3 for Bradley.

There’s no doubt the loss of Alexander-Arnold, should he depart, would be a huge blow for Liverpool.

But Bradley has shown he is more than capable of stepping up and Reds fans will no doubt be confident he will do so again when Alexander-Arnold moves on.