Conor Bradley is eager to end the season strongly and give Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp a fitting send-off after enjoying a “whirlwind” start to his Reds career.
Bradley made his full Premier League debut in mid-January and has earned plaudits for his energetic performances at full-back, helping Liverpool to cope while Trent Alexander-Arnold has been injured.
The 20-year-old registered an assist on his first top-flight start against Bournemouth, then scored his first Liverpool goal in a 4-1 rout of Chelsea just 10 days later. He also won praise for his performance as the Reds beat the Blues in extra time to lift the EFL Cup in late February.
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Speaking to BBC Sport in Northern Ireland about his meteoric rise, Bradley said: “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind.
“To get out there playing for Liverpool is brilliant but to get my first goal and first couple of assists has been unreal.
“It’s pretty special, what’s happened, and I just want to keep it going. It was so special to make my Premier League debut – I don’t think I can actually put it into words.
“It’s what I had been waiting for and what I’ve been dreaming about for a long time, so to get that and to also assist in that game was brilliant, I was just buzzing.”
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Liverpool saw their hopes of a quadruple ended by Sunday’s 4-3 defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals, but they remain in contention in both the Premier League and Europa League.
As the Reds face up to a future without Jurgen Klopp – who will leave the club at the end of the season – Bradley is determined to ensure the German’s farewell tour does not fizzle out.
“I’ve looked up to him since he’s been at Liverpool and he’s just a really nice guy as well, which makes it mean a lot more,” the right-back said of Klopp.
“He’s just good with me and helps me out when I need help. He’s helped me loads and given me my first chance so I’ll be forever grateful to him.
“It would be lovely [to win the league] but there’s still hard work to go to get that and there’s still loads of games left.
“Hopefully at the end of the season with Liverpool I’ll have a couple more medals to my name, which would be brilliant and would give the gaffer the send-off he deserves.”
Bradley is currently on international duty with Northern Ireland, who face friendlies against Romania and Scotland in the coming days.
Representing the Reds on international duty ✈️🔴 PIC.TWITTER.COM/ZD0BU05A4G
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) MARCH 19, 2024
