One of the young stars of Liverpool's 2023-24 campaign is reportedly set to land a lucrative new contract in one of Arne Slot's first acts as manager.
Twenty-year-old right-back Conor Bradley endured a frustrating start to his Reds career due to injuries, but he benefitted from Trent Alexander-Arnold's fitness woes to make a name for himself last season.
From 23 appearances in Jurgen Klopp's farewell campaign, Bradley contributed one goal and six assists in all competitions, starting 10 Premier League games and the EFL Cup final success over Chelsea.
The Northern Ireland international was relegated back down to a bench role when Alexander-Arnold returned to fitness, but he has quickly become a fan favourite at Anfield thanks to his effervescent performances.
Back in December, Bradley's contributions were recognised with a new-and-improved contract until the summer of 2027, which would take his Merseyside stay to eight years since arriving from Dungannon in 2019.
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Bradley 'in line for bumper renewal this summer'
Despite his recent agreement, TEAMtalk claims that Liverpool want to tie 20-year-old down to yet another renewal, as his stock only grew further after he signed on the dotted line in late 2023.
The report states that Bradley remains one of the lowest-earning players in the Liverpool first team, a situation that the Reds are keen to rectify by handing him a significant salary increase this summer.
Incoming head coach Slot has supposedly made a renewal for Bradley - who currently pockets £10,000 a week at Anfield - one of his top priorities, and there is optimism that an agreement can be struck imminently.
While Bradley was initially expected to play second fiddle to Alexander-Arnold again next term, the latter could supposedly push Slot for regular starts in the engine room, in turn allowing Bradley to stake his claim for the right-back position.
The Northern Irishman has now contributed a total of one goal and seven assists in 28 matches for Liverpool, who loaned him out to Bolton Wanderers for the 2022-23 season before his first-team breakthrough.
What other Liverpool contracts must Slot take care of?
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Bradley's new-and-improved Liverpool deal ought to go through without any major hitches, but there are still a handful of other contract concerns for Slot to attend to once he officially begins work at Anfield on July 1.
There has still been no movement whatsoever on the deals of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, both of whom are out of contract in 2025 but are expected to stay on for next season to help oversee Slot's transitional period.
However, both players' situations put Liverpool at risk of losing them for nothing when the Dutchman's debut campaign comes to an end, a situation that the owners cannot envisage after shelling out over £100m on their signatures.
Salah and Van Dijk are two of three integral Liverpool players who could walk away for free in 2025, a troupe also including Alexander-Arnold, supposedly being monitored by Real Madrid.
The Reds' academy graduate should be the easiest of the three to agree fresh terms with, but as things stand, Slot still has three exclamation marks next to Liverpool's contract list.
Ben Knapton
