When Liverpool's creative maestro Trent Alexander-Arnold went down with an injury a few seasons ago, he was replaced by a feisty young Northern Irish right-back. Conor Bradley did not shy away from the moment.
Since that time, Bradley has continued to impress the club and coaches alike with his tenacious tackling combining with his ability to still get forward and make things happen in the opponents' box.
He's largely seen as a future cornerstone of the Liverpool defense. That future became a little less clear when the Reds signed Dutch international and wing-back extraordinaire, Jeremie Frimpong, earlier this summer.
With the arrival of such a talented player, I still think I can make a case for Conor Bradley making the right-back position his in the long-term at Anfield.
The Case For Bradley
When you look at the kind of player he is, there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of clubs not just in England that would love to have the Northern Ireland international as their starting fullback on the right side.
Still just 21, Bradley has shown he has all the tools needed to play at the top level of this game for a very long time.
Let's start with his attacking abilities, of which there are many that get overlooked because he has only been compared to Trent since emerging at Liverpool.
Bradley has a directness to his game, as he bombs forward with confidence, typically searching out the byline so he can pull it back or drive a low cross across the face of goal, that makes him fun to watch and a pain to defend.
He has some trickery on the ball in his bag, but truly his strength lies in knowing what spot he wants to get to and setting up the defender to allow him to get to that very spot.
He's not afraid to have a crack on goal either, and while he is not an elite finisher by any means, he is a threat when given time and space on the ball.
The Northern Ireland national team have deployed him as a right-winger quite often, which is very similar to what Jeremie Frimpong has done with the Dutch national team.
Defensively he reads the game very well and he throws himself into every tackle. We all recall that tackle on Kylian Mbappe I'm sure.
At this point, he is already better in this area of the game than the incoming Frimpong. That will be a huge boost to his chances at least early on. Couple this with his familiarity with the system and club dynamic, and Bradley has several things going in his favor.
The Case Against Bradley
For all of his tremendous attributes, of which he has a lot, Bradley was not able to ever fully displace a fully fit Alexander-Arnold.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, he could start for a great many clubs, but there are levels to this game and a lot depends on what the manager wants from their fullback.
The thinking is that Frimpong will be a great fit in Arne Slot's system as his explosive pace will make him a constant threat on the counter and he can hound and harass further upfield and still get back to recover.
He is also a more dynamic attacker than Bradley is. Frimpong has more tools in his bag in the final third as evidenced by his 63 goal contributions in all competitions since the beginning of the 2022/23 season.
This dynamism up top is something that has some Liverpool fans thinking he might actually play more attacking than defensively, but at some point, he will need to drop back and help out.
With the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate being used to TAA's forays forward, this will not be a new adjustment for them.
Milos Kerkez on one side and Jeremie Frimpong on the other could give Slot the most electric wingback duo in the league next season.
It's a good dilemma to have
Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are both great players in their own unique ways.
Whichever guy raises their game to the next level can only mean great things for the club, as they will be pushing each other to reach new heights.
It's entirely possible we see the both of them on the field at the same time on days Mohamed Salah is resting or gone, like AFCON in January.
While the Northern Irishman is a bit more solid defensively, Frimpong offers more going forward and as a result, a lot of it might be matchup dependent.
The 21-year old Bradley should not get too discouraged with the Dutchman's arrival. If anything, it should motivate him to find the next level in his own game and that will benefit everyone involved.