Liverpool defender Conor Bradley smashed in a 25-yard strike to net his first goal in senior football for Bolton Wanderers against Salford City on Tuesday night.
Bradley joined Bolton on a season-long loan in July and has wasted no time in making an impact, taking just three games to get on the score sheet. And the way he did so, as well as the opposition, made it all the more special for the 19-year-old right-back.
With the score already at 3-1, Bradley came off the bench in the 75th minute. Two minutes later he had made an impact by picking up the ball on the half-turn in midfield before driving forward and unleashing a powerful effort into the far corner from outside the box. Bolton went on to win the EFL Cup tie 5-1 against Salford, who are part-owned by ex-Manchester United players David Beckham, Nicholas Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes.
Bradley is embarking on his first loan spell away from Liverpool after making five appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s first team. The youngster, who can play anywhere down the right-hand side, is enjoying a great spell, having been named in the League One team of the weekend after grabbing an assist in Bolton’s 3-0 win over Wycombe on Saturday.
Bolton boss Ian Evatt has been delighted with Bradley’s start at the club. “I thought he was excellent, I think it was a real big test for him,” he said after his debut against Ipswich on July 30. “I think physically now he’ll understand the demands of playing in that position for us.”
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He looks a perfect fit for Bolton – and that is no coincidence, with Evatt explaining the process which brought him to the club. “We know the way Jurgen (Klopp) and Liverpool coach their full-backs and wing-backs is very similar to what we require from ours, so it’s automatically a good fit,” he said this week.
“It’s a good fit for Liverpool because they know he’s going to come here and be played and taught the same way. And also a good fit for us because we don’t have to work on him from scratch and from day one – he’s already used to doing it and I think we’re seeing the benefit of that.”
Klopp is a big fan of the young defender, who was in with a shout of playing Liverpool’s FA Cup quarter-final against Nottingham Forest in March after an injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold ."He's a top boy. The last few weeks because we had a full squad he was not with us all the time obviously,” he said. “He went through a spell where he was pretty much with us all sessions but not in the last few weeks.
"I cannot say now exactly how he developed in the last few weeks because he was not here but, from the things I know, good as well. Wonderfully talented boy with a big heart, a real fighter, and it's a joy to have him around. That's what I can say."
