'He's good enough!' - Liverpool urged to make Conor Bradley their long-term Trent Alexander-Arnold replacement despite Reds eyeing Jeremie Frimpong deal to replace Real Madrid-bound ace

Micah Richards has urged Liverpool to give Bradley the chance to replace Alexander-Arnold as the England right-back prepares to leave on a free transfer. Bradley has made 17 Premier League appearances this season, although just five have been starts, and he has impressed the former Manchester City full-back enough for him to advocate for an expanded role under Arne Slot.

The Reds have been heavily linked with Jeremie Frimpong and the BBC reports that they are poised to trigger his £29.5m (€35m/$39m) release clause ahead of the summer window opening. Slot is said to be an admirer of his countryman, but Richards believes Bradley deserves a chance to stake his own claim as a starter.

Richards said on The Rest is Football: "It's a tough one because when you make this decision to bring in another right-back, it can either help you and have you raise your game or hinder you. I think Bradley, given a run in the team, I think he's very good, guys. He's good going forward, he's intelligent with his runs, he can do the one-on-one defending as well. The only question mark is whether he can do it on a consistent basis. When he came in for Trent, the mindset of a sub is different to a starter... "

He added, when asked to explain his "hinder" comment: "Because you can lose your confidence. When we had the takeover with Man City, every window we were linked with the best player in the world, and he'd go to Madrid or to Barcelona, then it'd be the third-best, then the fourth-best, and you can see the confidence in the dressing room, slowly but surely, going, 'oh, why are they looking at people in my position. I'm good enough. Look how well I've played this season, I'm still improving' and the mindset of the players changed overnight. And then what happens is you go in and you don't play.

"If Bradley starts the season and has two good games but three bad games, all of a sudden he's being questioned already, whereas Trent, because he was ridiculously good when he came into the side, getting goals and assists, all the defensive stuff was put on the back-burner because he's so good going forward. I think another one would help, but if Frimpong comes in, he's coming in as No.1 which could be difficult for Bradley to deal with because I think he's good enough to be playing week in, week out."

Liverpool face two more games before a well-deserved summer break for the champions, against Brighton and Crystal Palace. Bradley may well get a chance to showcase his talent, what with the league already won.