Gary Neville and Roy Keane have differing views on how Liverpool should go about dealing with the impending departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Alexander-Arnold ended months of speculation surrounding his future earlier this week as he announced that he will be leaving Anfield at the end of the season.
With his exit now confirmed, Liverpool fans’ attention has turned to who will replace him in the team next season. Conor Bradley has made significant strides over the last 18 months, but his questionable injury record means it would be a huge risk to rely on him to play 50 to 60 games during the 2025-26 campaign.
Bradley missed all of Liverpool’s games in December due to a hamstring injury, before a similar problem sidelined him for more than six weeks between February and April.
Keane believes Liverpool will sign a ready-made replacement for Alexander-Arnold rather than put its full trust in Bradley. “It will obviously make Liverpool weaker next season without him (Alexander-Arnold),” Keane said on the Stick to Football podcast.
“I like him (Conor Bradley) but he certainly won’t be as good as Trent going forward. Absolutely not. In a few years’ time he might be. Obviously someone will come in in that position. We have been saying for the last seven or eight years about how good Trent has been going forward. He has a lot to live up to.
“There were two or three times against Chelsea where he (Bradley) got in and just didn’t make the right pass. Trent would have picked someone out and that is part of the game he needs to improve.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Neville, however, thinks that signing a high-profile player to replace Alexander-Arnold would risk hampering Bradley’s development in the long run.
“I wouldn’t be rushing to sign anybody as a right back if I was Liverpool,” Neville said. “I remember watching Trent’s first game for Liverpool when he came in at Old Trafford, thinking he did really well.
“Conor Bradley is a hell of a player, to be doing what he has been doing. Liverpool will never ever be able to replace Trent with someone who can do what he can. Bradley is different.
“I would invest heavily in him. If you bring someone else in, it undermines him slightly. Liverpool could get someone who is a center-back, who can play at right back, Joe Gomez would be ideal if he was fit. But with Bradley, he is that good that he could be Liverpool’s right back for the next 10 years.”
