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In March, Arne Slot received a knock on his door. It was one he had long feared would come.
The AXA Training Centre was almost deserted; the majority of Liverpool players were on international duty. Yet not Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose ankle injury denied him inclusion in Thomas Tuchel’s inaugural England squad.
It was the boyhood Red who rapped on Slot’s office door to deliver the news most had anticipated for months: he planned to join Real Madrid that summer. The decision had a myriad of knock-on effects for Liverpool, the most immediate of which was determining who would be his long-term successor in the team.
It’s a question that will be fully answered throughout this season, perhaps even over several years, but Alexander-Arnold’s exit has inevitable implications for another right-back who came through Liverpool’s highly commendable academy set-up.
In a summer of change at Anfield, Conor Bradley could benefit most from Liverpool’s squad reshuffle. The 22-year-old has been handed an opportunity he has always dreamed of.
For all the success the defender has enjoyed in his juvenile career, prior to Alexander-Arnold’s departure, any hope of becoming an established presence in the Reds XI felt forlorn. Bradley was simply unfortunate to find himself playing second fiddle to one of the world’s greatest right-backs.
Now, many around Liverpool feel the stars have aligned for one of the game’s most genial figures. How Bradley got to this stage has not been straightforward, with more obstacles and setbacks than most are aware of. This is the inside story of his remarkable journey from childhood Liverpool supporter to first-team regular.
Aghyaran, AXA, Anfield
That Bradley is the first man from Northern Ireland to represent Liverpool since 1954 underlines how unorthodox his route to the top has been.
It began in Killen, a small, rural town just outside Castlederg in County Tyrone, which straddles the Irish border. Even many Ulster natives may not be familiar with the name. In truth, most now know it simply as “the hometown of Conor Bradley.”
Growing up in Killen, his talent was immediately evident. In primary school, teachers remarked on his athletic ability, and by the age of eight, when playing for local club St Patrick’s, Bradley’s name was widely known in youth soccer circles.
But it wasn’t until his early teenage years that coaches excitedly spoke about the prospect of a “move over the water.” By then, Bradley was playing for Dungannon United Youth and part of the Northern Ireland set-up. He was also making regular trips to Liverpool’s satellite programme in Belfast.
Those familiar with Bradley’s development credit the Irish FA’s pathway programmes in fast-tracking and enhancing that talent, particularly the Club NI initiative, which saw the country’s top youngsters train together and prepare for opportunities at elite-level clubs.
Multiple sources speak of a sporting intelligence that amplified his skills and compensated for his smaller stature.
Playing Gaelic football also helped instil the battling qualities now seen in the Premier League. His role as a lung-busting midfielder helped develop the rapid bursts that have become his forte.
“It didn’t matter where you played him or who he was against, Conor just went out and competed. That was probably his greatest skill,” explained Anthony Devine, Bradley’s former coach at Aghyaran St. Davog’s GAA club. “He was light, but very tough - and never afraid.”
Those qualities had long piqued Liverpool’s interest. By 13, Bradley was regularly traveling to Merseyside, often skipping school on Fridays to feature in academy matches.
He also routinely represented Liverpool at overseas competitions. Earning a player-of-the-tournament award at one such event in Barcelona perhaps underlined to Liverpool staff just how imperative it was to secure Bradley’s services.
There were other admirers, of course. Bradley attended a Manchester United camp one summer, drew interest from Chelsea, and gave serious consideration to Southampton, which had a track record of developing youngsters, including his favorite player: Gareth Bale
But ultimately, the choice was simple. “It was only Liverpool for Conor,” said Steafan Deery, Bradley’s former youth coach who first alerted Liverpool scout Cliff Ferguson to the player’s burgeoning talents as a nine-year-old.
"As a youngster, I’d liken him to Steven Gerrard with his box-to-box running and strong tackling,” added a proud Deery, whose son now regularly sports a Liverpool jersey adorned with Bradley's name and number. “That tackle on [Kylian] Mbappe... we saw that on a daily basis.”
By the time he captained Northern Ireland to success at the Victory Shield in 2018, for just the second time in the nation’s history, it was clear that a generational talent had emerged. Bradley even participated in the competition 12 months prior, despite being a year younger than his teammates and competitors.
“You could tell even that he had that wee bit extra,” said Terry Devlin, the now Portsmouth defender who was one of five Dungannon youth players in the 2018 squad.
“What stood out most was his passion and desire to get better. He was always doing more away from sessions; he was going to a personal trainer and a one-to-one coach. That really paid off.”
By this stage, with the trips back and forth to Liverpool, his club team-mates were seeing less and less of Bradley, who took his GCSEs a year early to facilitate a move across the Irish Sea. When he signed for his boyhood club in 2019, no one with even the slightest inkling of Northern Irish soccer could argue it was undeserved.
Big changes
Like all youth-team players, Liverpool’s decision to sign Bradley was not taken on a whim. Several club scouts were sent to watch games and training sessions, while one even attended a Gaelic football match. Liverpool needed to ensure that Bradley’s character – and that of his family – were the right fit.
Any fears were immediately allayed. “From a young age, Conor displayed his passion for football. He had an energy, a love for the game, and a sheer desire,” said Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Liverpool’s former youth coach, who made numerous journeys to Northern Ireland.
“He’s an amazing human,” adds the now Huddersfield Town coach. “He was brought up the right way by the nicest family you could ever meet. He strives every day to be better and I think that comes across in the way that he trains and the way that he plays.”
Meeting the host family in Liverpool eased the understandable concerns of parents Linda and Joe, who faced the prospect of their son shipping off to England. Leighton Clarkson, the now Aberdeen midfielder, was also boarding at the same address and helped a shy yet determined Bradley settle – and on September 1, 2019, he signed as a first-year scholar with Liverpool.
Bradley’s rapid acceleration still stood out, but Liverpool staff felt he was not among the best technical players in that age group. While on trial, the teenager worked on his crossing with renowned youth coach Steve Highway, and his first year focused on developing technical skills.
As did the adjustment to the new position of right-back, having previously played in a more advanced role.
“Going to a full-back was an obvious help to Conor’s game,” said Alex Inglethorpe, who has held the role of Liverpool’s academy director for over a decade. “I think it’s the same for other players that when they play a line backwards, they have a little more time on the ball.
“I think receiving skills are different, driving into space on the outside from a deeper position. I think he is also incredibly competitive, so the one-v-one duel, it’s in his nature to want to win, and I think that aligns itself well with someone who is competitive.”
Senior recognition
The defender ended his first campaign as a regular at the Under-18 level, although the season ended prematurely after the outbreak of Covid-19. When Bradley returned ahead of the 2020/21 term, he had “grown into his body,” a change coaches felt was crucial to his ability to compete physically.
Bradley’s status was growing. The signing of a first professional contract highlighted that. There were other markers, and having started the season at Under-18 level, Bradley finished it playing predominantly for the Under-21s, while he featured in every minute from the fourth round onwards of Liverpool’s run to the FA Youth Cup final.
But the biggest testament to Bradley’s burgeoning talent was a first full senior international call-up in May 2021. While to some that felt slightly premature, particularly given Bradley essentially bypassed the Under-18 and Under-21 groups, the IFA knew the time was right.
That the Republic of Ireland was interested in testing Bradley’s commitment to their northern counterparts may have hastened the decision somewhat, but the IFA, who had witnessed every step of the Liverpool youngster’s journey, believed sooner or later that he would be a star turn in the side. Why wait?
Introduced for the final minutes of a 4-0 win over Malta, Bradley became the fourth-youngest Northern Irish debutant. A competitive bow followed a few months later against Switzerland, with a crunching tackle on Ricardo Rodriguez ingratiating Bradley to a rapturous Windsor Park.
Ian Baraclough wasn’t the only senior coach whose head Bradley had turned. That summer, the right-back was named by Jurgen Klopp in his pre-season trip to Austria, with another new contract offering rich reward for his enhanced status.
In two short years, Bradley had gone from promising talent to a player many believed was now destined to be a Premier League star. He benefited somewhat from Klopp’s renewed desire to blood youngsters in the first team. Still, Bradley was so highly regarded that thoughts of moving on from fellow academy graduate Neco Williams were being given serious consideration.
A competitive debut felt inevitable, and when Williams and Alexander-Arnold were both ruled out of a Carabao Cup third-round tie against Norwich City just a few weeks into the season, Klopp had no hesitation throwing in the juvenile Bradley.
He played the full 90 minutes in that 3-0 victory, and even conceding a penalty didn't bring any negativity to a performance described post-match by Klopp as “super.”
More standout moments followed: a Champions League bow in the San Siro, an Anfield debut, and a maiden first-team assist in a campaign that finished with Bradley collecting winners’ medals in the FA and Carabao Cups.
Perhaps more importantly, those dizzying heights weren’t distracting from his efforts with the Under-21s. Eight assists in 21 league matches provided an example of Bradley’s attacking progression. By the end of the season, it was clear he had evolved beyond youth-team soccer.
Boy to a man
Speak to anyone familiar with Bradley’s development in recent years and one point is continuously mentioned: the season spent at Bolton Wanderers was transformational.
After three years in the academy, attaining regular first-team minutes was the natural next step in the youngster’s progression, and the feeling at Kirkby was that he now needed to cut his teeth away from Liverpool.
A club in the EFL was deemed most suitable. When Bolton head coach Ian Evatt caught wind of the right-back’s availability, he immediately made his interest clear.
Evatt was already aware of Bradley’s reputation, having done his coaching badges in Belfast, and felt the teenager would be suited to his 3-4-1-2 system. Yet others at the club were less certain that the shy, skinny lad from County Tyrone could handle the rough and tumble of League One.
Other sides in the third tier shared that belief, and Bradley was repeatedly targeted in the opening weeks of the season. “He was flattened after five minutes in his first away game,” one observer reflected. “But Conor was unruffled and eventually learnt how to handle himself and give it out.”
Evatt’s deployment of wing-backs suited Bradley’s running power and aerobic durability, while the loanee developed a close bond with his new boss. He understood the occasional arm around the shoulder was needed.
“Conor embodied everything that a good loan should look like,” Evatt told Liverpool.com. “Obviously, his attributes and talents speak for themselves, but his character and the way he fully invested into the culture of the team, the club, and the fans, it almost felt like he was one of our players. He was a pleasure to deal with.”
Fellow Liverpool youngster Owen Beck was brought in on a short-term deal partly to help Bradley acclimatize to his new surroundings, while numerous interviewees for this article referenced the close bond between the Northern Irishman and on-loan James Trafford. “They were thick as thieves,” Evatt reminisced.
As the season progressed, Liverpool staff received glowing reports from Bradley, who routinely checked in at the AXA Training Centre. Taken out of his comfort zone, the defender thrived. “It might sound cliché, but he came as a boy and left as a man,” said one source.
Despite Bradley only adopting a more withdrawn role in recent years, Evatt felt his offensive output needed improvement rather than his defensive skill set. Work on decision-making in the final third became a focal point of his individual development, and that reaped clear rewards with seven goals and six assists across the campaign.
Bradley played 53 games for the Trotters, helped the club earn a fifth-place finish, and win the EFL Trophy. Playing in front of 80,000 at Wembley was an invaluable experience that mattered greatly to Bradley. “I think he sorted tickets for half of Northern Ireland,” joked one Liverpool insider.
A phone call to a local reporter on the morning of the game, requesting whether it would be possible to obtain a stash of newspapers, emphasized how Bradley had come out of his shell. Having mumbled through the first few interviews, he ended his stint in Bolton by often choosing to stop and speak to journalists after games.
Club staff noticed this change too. Perhaps it was inevitable, given how well things went on the pitch, and Bradley’s stellar performances were underlined when he scooped three player-of-the-season awards at the end of the campaign.
Bolton wanted to bring him back the following year, but after missing out on promotion, everyone knew that possibility had gone. Bradley was now ready to compete at the highest possible level, something Klopp made clear when he returned to Liverpool.
This is the first in a two-part series detailing Bradley’s rise through the Liverpool ranks. The second edition will be available on Liverpool.com tomorrow.
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