Conor Bradley is moving again, but patience is still the watchword

Eight months is a long time to be stuck on the sidelines, and for Conor Bradley it has felt even longer. The Northern Irishman has not featured for Liverpool since a serious knee injury struck in early January, and while Andoni Iraola’s latest update carries a genuine note of encouragement, it is a long way from being the green light supporters have been waiting for.

Speaking before Liverpool’s Carabao Cup trip to face Tottenham Hotspur, Iraola confirmed that Bradley has started working with a ball again, a small but meaningful step for a player who has spent the best part of a year in various stages of rehabilitation. Even so, the head coach was careful not to oversell the progress.

A step forward, not a fast track

“He’s not close to training with the team,” Iraola said plainly. “He’s training alone, but he started touching the ball. Definitely, I want him back as quick as possible already.” That is about as measured as a manager’s update can get, and it is worth taking at face value. Ball work is a milestone, but it sits several stages before full integration with the group, and Iraola knows better than most that rushing a knee injury of this severity would be self-defeating.

There is context here too. Giovanni Leoni, another long-term absentee, is understood to be further along in his own recovery, which gives some sense of where Bradley currently stands in the pecking order of Liverpool’s treatment room. Iraola touched on this directly, noting that “these long-term injuries, I think Leoni is a little bit ahead of him, and still it’s gonna take some time for Conor.” Earlier suggestions of an October or November comeback now look optimistic at best, and our sense is that supporters should brace for a longer wait rather than count down the weeks.

Araujo’s emergence takes the sting out of it

The good news, if there is any silver lining to be found, is that Bradley’s absence has not left Liverpool short at right-back in the way it might have a year ago. Ronald Araujo has made the position his own in recent weeks, with Jeremie Frimpong dropping to the bench for three matches running. Araujo’s versatility and physicality have given Iraola a genuine alternative rather than a makeshift solution, and that in itself removes any temptation to accelerate Bradley’s return before he is ready.

That matters more than it might first appear. Bradley’s history is littered with setbacks and interrupted runs of form, and the worst outcome for Liverpool would be welcoming him back only to lose him again a few weeks later. Having a settled option in Araujo buys Iraola the luxury of time, and time is exactly what a rebuilding knee needs.

What the Champions League squad tells us

One detail worth flagging is that Liverpool still included Bradley in their initial Champions League squad for the league phase, alongside the injured Hugo Ekitike. That squad list runs through to January, which strongly suggests the club expect him to be available for selection at some point during that window rather than ruling him out entirely for the first half of the season. It is a small clue, but a useful one when official timelines are being kept deliberately vague.

For now, the priority is straightforward: individual rehab work must turn into partial team involvement before anyone can put a realistic date on a first-team return. Ball work is progress. It is not, however, a signal that Bradley is close. Liverpool have shown patience with far less important issues than a player’s long-term fitness, and there is no reason to expect that approach to change now. Getting Conor Bradley back fit and, crucially, keeping him fit should matter far more than getting him back quickly.