Arne Slot has been a revelation at Liverpool, bucking the trend of managers falling by the wayside in the Premier League after replacing coaches with long legacies.
Indeed, most thought Feyenoord's coach would struggle to impress when replacing Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, but he took the reins and led Liverpool to the Premier League title in his first season, so confidently beating off competition.
Swiftly turning doubters into believers, just like the head coach before him, Slot has the minerals to lead this ambitious Liverpool project for many years to come.
Liverpool have now restructured themselves into a global force to be reckoned with, smashing the British spending record this summer, but Klopp built the foundations that Slot's squad walk on, paving the Dutchman's trophy-winning success.
Klopp's Liverpool legacy
Klopp didn't just lead Liverpool to many trophies across his time at the helm, but he took an Anfield outfit in disrepair and shaped it back into a superpower, forming one of English football's great rivalries with Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
Klopp's Silverware at Liverpool
Competition
Premier League
Champions League
FA Cup
Carabao Cup
Club World Cup
UEFA Super Cup
Community Shield
Data via Transfermarkt
He just got it, did Klopp. The bond he formed with Liverpool was a priceless thing, adding substance to his illustrious career, lifting Premier League and Champions League trophies as Liverpool manager.
The 58-year-old also gave rise to a new level of youth quality, guiding superstars like Trent Alexander-Arnold to the fore and raising the standard of the academy as a whole.
'Klopp's Kids' as they came to be known, played an instrumental role in winning the Carabao Cup during the German's swansong, and indeed keeping the ship steady amid a wave of injury problems, helping Liverpool back into the Champions League.
Liverpool's Lewis Koumas, Jayden Danns and Trey Nyoni celebrate winning the Carabao Cup with the trophy
Liverpool's Lewis Koumas, Jayden Danns and Trey Nyoni celebrate winning the Carabao Cup with the trophy
Couple that with Klopp's remarkable midfield rebuild, signing Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch, and you can see why Slot has enjoyed such success over his year on Merseyside.
Many of Liverpool's academy talents have since moved on, but a few remain. One of whom would be Conor Bradley, who, despite his recent injury concerns, has what it takes to become a leading first-teamer over the coming years.
Slot has hit gold on Conor Bradley
Bradley, 22, burst onto the scene in the 2023/24 season, mesmerising as he soared in the injured Alexander-Arnold's stead, hitting one goal and six assists across his half-season in the first team.
In just his second Premier League match of the season, the young right-back obliterated Chelsea, scoring a fantastic goal and setting up two more.
Hailed by Alexander-Arnold for his "absolutely phenomenal" start to life under Klopp's wing, this academy talent looked right at home from the off, leaving no doubts in the fanbase's collective mind that this was a player capable of dazzling in red for years to come.
While Bradley doesn't have his right-back predecessor's same incredible range of passing, he is an athletic freak, capable of zipping up and down the wing and contributing with assists and tackles. 58 matches into his Liverpool career, Bradley has chalked up 11 assists.
conor-bradley-liverpool-premier-league
Injuries limited him to just seven starts in the Premier League last season, but Bradley remains one of the most exciting up-and-comers in Slot's squad, ranking among the top 3% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 5% for progressive carries, the top 13% for ball recoveries and the top 6% for goal-creating actions per 90, data courtesy of FBref.
Goal-creating actions are pieces of play that lead to a goal. These include moments such as a pass, take-on or foul being drawn.
Described as a "really special talent" by Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill, Bradley has already become a staple for his nation, proving his dynamism by often playing in a more advanced role.
With Jeremie Frimpong having ostensibly replaced Trent in the transfer market this summer and Szoboszlai playing like a man possessed as a makeshift right-back at the moment, Bradley has his work cut out in nailing down a regular starting berth, but he certainly has the potential to do so.
Conor-Bradley-Northern-Ireland
In fact, given the trajectory his career has taken already, Bradley might even be assured of his chances of becoming an even bigger fish in the Liverpool pond, having seen his market value skyrocket since Klopp left.
According to Transfermarkt, the defender's estimated price tag has actually doubled over the past year, going from £13m to £26m.
Comparatively, this 100% rise is still a rather meagre amount, especially when comparing the player's value against the most prominent members of Slot's squad.
Conor Bradley for Liverpool.
Conor Bradley for Liverpool.
But he's already pieced together too impressive a showreel to be considered anything other than one of the biggest talents in Liverpool's ranks right now, with his goal against Chelsea the statement.
And, of course, how could we forget that tackle on Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe in the Champions League last year? Technical ability? Check. But passion? Well, he has that in droves.
If Bradley can work his way toward full fitness over the coming weeks and months, Liverpool will unlock another dimension to their backline, reinforcing the defensive structure (and covering the likes of Ibrahima Konate, who has had an up-and-down start to the term).
Then the talent's value would only grow and grow some more, which is exciting to think about for those of a Reds persuasion. We have only had a taste of this academy gem's potential.