It has been a stellar season as far as Liverpool’s academy has been concerned.
All too often left a little under-utilised in the recent past, the Reds youth teams have been plundered by Jurgen Klopp in 2023/24.
Unfortunately, Klopp will not be the manager who sees the likes of Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley and Jayden Danns flourish with Liverpool.
However, he will always be the one who got the ball rolling at Anfield for those three youngsters, as well as a whole host of others.
Arne Slot is set to be the coach to take over Liverpool’s gems. The Feyenoord boss comes with his own reputation for giving youth a chance. And according to former Man United goalkeeper Ben Foster, Slot has one academy star in particular to watch out for.
Ben Foster hails Conor Bradley
Klopp’s use of Liverpool’s academy this season has been unprecedented. It has been a long while since so much quality has come through the ranks at the club.
With 30 appearances under his belt, Quansah has perhaps been the pick of the bunch. As Liverpool continue to look for a new centre-back signing they shouldn’t forget about the 21-year-old.
But Quansah aside, Bradley has been the one who has excited supporters the most. The 20-year-old is as all-action as they come.
And picking a dream team of young players for the Premier League’s official YouTube channel, Foster has hailed Bradley’s ability to seamlessly step into the Liverpool first-team.
“I think we’ve got to give Conor Bradley some love, coming into that Liverpool squad, straight into the team,” raved the pundit.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold we’re talking about, one of the best right-backs in the country. To fill those boots so seamlessly, the aggression that he shows, how much confidence he has when he goes out on that pitch. There’s no wonder Jurgen Klopp trusts him implicitly.”
What role could Bradley play next season
Klopp will still be hoping that he hasn’t quite seen the last of Bradley at Liverpool. Although he’s missed the last four matches, he had been expected to be back fit by May.
We’ll have to wait and see whether the right-back will be in the squad for Liverpool’s final three games under Klopp.
Moving forward, it’s clear that Bradley has a big future at the club. Just how big that will be could depend on how Slot plans to use Alexander-Arnold.
If the Dutch coach fancies Trent as a central midfielder, then the right-back spot will open up for Bradley. If not, then another season as a very capable deputy beckons.
In our opinion, we’d be happy with either of those options. Bradley has shown he can be trusted to step up and with Trent pulling strings next to him, a whole new dimension could be opened up for Liverpool.
