Jurgen Klopp was enjoying some much-needed rest and relaxation in Dubai during the recent winter break when he was approached by a bloke in a flowery shirt. It was a Bolton fan begging the Liverpool manager to allow Conor Bradley back on loan to the League One side.
‘Too late,’ came the response from Klopp, sporting a ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ cap which he made a point to put on to wind up a Manchester United fan asking for a photo. And ‘too late’ was the gist of most responses to clubs who came knocking for Bradley in the summer, too.
After scoring five goals and notching up five assists from right back at the third-tier club, Klopp and his coaching staff had seen enough to conclude that Bradley was to play a pivotal role in this new iteration of the Reds’ team which the German manager dubbed ‘Liverpool 2.0’.
Bradley was the name on everyone’s lips in a pre-season camp in Bavaria with pleasing performances against Karlsruher and Greuther Furth - but that was the last sight of him until the turn of the year, with the 20-year-old missing more than four months with a back injury.
Now he is the name on everyone’s lips, not just those in the Kop who chanted his name multiple times in a man-of-the-match performance against billionaire boys Chelsea on Wednesday night. He scored a goal, assisted two more and put in an imperious defensive display at the other end.
That was his fifth start in a row for the Reds and now there is a genuine debate over whether he should keep the shirt for a season-defining trip to Arsenal on Sunday over Trent Alexander-Arnold. The fact that is even a debate at all is testament to Bradley’s abilities.
Indeed, in a straw poll of Liverpool fans on this reporter’s social media, in which around 1,000 readers
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