Trent Alexander-Arnold’s exit from Liverpool has been all but confirmed this week with a move to Real Madrid in the pipeline.

The 26-year-old defender has been rumoured with a switch to the Spanish giants all season, with Madrid now close to reaching an agreement with Alexander-Arnold to bring the England international to La Liga for free.

With Liverpool stepping up efforts to sign Jeremie Frimpong, Alexander-Arnold’s move to Madrid could be announced before the end of the season, with the Reds firmly in the hunt for a replacement for the fullback superstar.

And Steve McManaman has now shared if one player who could be lined up to replace Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool is ready to take on the mantle next season.

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Speaking to BBC Sport, the former Liverpool star shared his hopefulness that Conor Bradley could make the leap from Alexander-Arnold’s understudy to the new starting right-back, even with the two players being as different as they come.

Bradley has impressed this season at Liverpool despite numerous injury problems, and for McManaman, the Northern Ireland international could be given a platform by Slot to succeed Alexander-Arnold in the vacant fullback position.

McManaman said: “[Bradley is] a completely different player to Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Trent’s numbers in an attacking sense are absolutely fantastic, but Liverpool fans and everybody will hope that Conor Bradley will be able to fill that void.

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“You have a standard level and every year, you try and improve and get better and better.

We all hope that Conor Bradley achieves that and becomes the superstar that people are talking about when they talk about Trent Alexander-Arnold.”

With 22 appearances in all competitions this season, Bradley has clearly won support of Slot already at Liverpool, with the defender potentially in line for more appearances in the final nine games of the campaign.

And with Bradley thriving against the likes of Madrid in what was arguably one of the standout performances of the season from a Liverpool player, the youngster has shown he can do the business in the biggest games.

Indeed, Bradley does still have some developing to do and is a completely different player to Alexander-Arnold, yet the fullback has come leaps and bounds since breaking into the first-team last year, and regular minutes could lead to Liverpool landing on their next great defender.