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Former Northern Ireland international Gareth McAuley reckons joining Wanderers is "a terrific move" for Conor Bradley.
Bradley joined the Whites on a season-long loan from Liverpool, becoming the club’s third signing of the summer after Jack Iredale and James Trafford.
At just 18 years of age, the full-back has already made five first-team appearances for the Reds including a Champions League fixture against AC Milan.
He has also earned eight caps for Northern Ireland, having made his international debut in a friendly against Malta last summer.
“It’s a terrific move for the young Norther Ireland full-back,” McAuley told the Belfast Telegraph. “He’ll get regular first-team football at a decent level, and with a team who should be battling for promotion.
“He’ll endure real-life experiences in League One having been wrapped up in cotton wool at Anfield. It’s exactly what he needs at 18 years of age and from all the reports I’ve received on the kid and having watched him play, I think he’ll thrive at Bolton.
“He has a terrific attitude, a will to win and as Norther Ireland fans know only too well, he’s not afraid of a strong, crunching tackle.
“Conor needed to get away from Under-23 football and have his eyes opened to ‘men’s football’. Some of our young lads have waited too long for the chance to go out on loan and further their development.
“But Conor will have now Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday games rather than a match once a week as he did at Liverpool, while he will be in a dressing room with big characters and players who rely heavily on win bonuses. As well as improving Conor as a player in a tough and uncompromising league, it will allow him to grow as a person off the pitch.
“The fact he has agreed his loan so early in the summer will help him have a good, strong pre-season with Bolton and he should easily integrate into Ian Evatt’s team.
“Ian, I believe, did his coaching badges with the Irish FA so no doubt he has been keeping a watching brief on Conor during his international displays. Conor can only benefit from going to Bolton.”
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