Conor Bradley has spoken about working his way into Jurgen Klopp’s mind ahead of the season.
Liverpool youngster Conor Bradley has explained why this pre-season is the “most important” of his career until he tries to impress Jurgen Klopp.
Bradley is currently part of Liverpool’s 32-man squad to Germany on a pre-season training trip. Klopp has already described the pitch as ‘super, super important’ as he tries to ensure his side are able to compete for big success, following a disappointing campaign last season.
Liverpool will play friendlies against Karlsruher and Greuther Furth in Germany before heading to Singapore to face Leicester City and Bayern Munich. Klopp’s side will then wrap up their pre-season with a game against Darmstadt at Preston North End’s Deepdale.
The Northern Ireland international impressed on loan at Bolton Wanderers last season and with Calvin Ramsay on loan at Preston North End for the 2023/24 season, Bradley has a real shot at securing a place in the first team of Klopp this summer.
“Definitely the biggest [pre-season] of my career so far,” the 20-year-old told Liverpoolfc.com after his side’s opener in Baden-Württemberg.
“Obviously I think every pre-season will be the best for me, but I’m looking forward to this one and how I’m going to progress.”
“It’s just different from the last time I was in pre-season. I’m fighting for a place now, I want a place in this team. I want to work hard and fight for that place.
“I would say I’m a much better player than the last time I was here. I’m really looking forward to pre-season and trying to show what I have.
“It’s been crazy the last few years, but I just want to keep working and keep going and see where it takes me.”
Bradley impressed on loan at Bolton and helped the League One side win the Papa John’s Trophy last season. He was also named Fan-Player of the Year, Player-Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year at the club’s end-of-season awards ceremony.
And reflecting on his loan deal at Toughsheet Community Stadium, he said: “I never imagined the loan would go so well.”
“It’s been an incredible season and a big thank you to Bolton. I had a great time there and enjoyed every minute. I think that was the main thing I wanted every time I was on loan – I just wanted to play as much as possible, play the best I could and I did. “I played almost every game I could and stayed injury free. I will try to do something similar this year.
“I felt better every game. I was quite nervous for the first few weeks; of course it’s different from youth football – playing men’s football every week.
“With every game, my confidence grew and I felt like I was getting better and better. I hope I can build on that in this pre-season.
