Bradley and Ekitiké have both been sidelined by significant injuries, with the Liverpool manager cautious about setting firm dates for their returns. Bradley suffered a serious knee injury away to Arsenal in January, while Ekitiké has been recovering from an Achilles tendon injury.
“They are both doing very well. I think they are in a good place,” Iraola said.
“Conor is not so far from training with the group – not like full training but doing some things with the group.
“Hugo is a little bit behind that but that was always the plan. He is still doing very well according to the plan.
“It’s difficult to put a timescale on them both. When they have been injured for so long it’s difficult to say but I think Conor is not very far from starting doing things with us.”
The update offers encouragement for Liverpool as they work to bring both players back into contention, although neither has been given a confirmed return date.
Leoni’s rehabilitation is taking longer than initially anticipated. The young defender has been recovering from a severe knee injury sustained in 2025, and the original plan was for him to begin training with the squad during the latest international break.
Iraola said that target had been pushed back by about a month, with the next international break now the aim.
“It is taking more time than we wanted. With Gio, the planning was to train with the team in this past international break. It is probably now going to be the next international break, so we have lost one month in the process.
“Giovanni's injury, I wasn't here but talking to the medical department it wasn't just an ACL. It was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL.”
The manager stressed that Liverpool must avoid rushing Leoni back before he is ready.
“I think he has to be very confident in the rehab and the process has to be very careful with him. We want to make sure once he comes to the team he stays there in a good place. It's true we've had a little bit of not a setback but a delay if you want.
“The plan now is he starts in the next break. It's not that far off, but a little bit later than we expected.”
Liverpool are also monitoring the fitness of Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brentford. The trio have missed recent matches, but Iraola has not ruled them out of the fixture, leaving open the possibility that they could prove their fitness in time.
With Bradley and Ekitiké edging closer to team training and Leoni’s rehabilitation continuing more cautiously, Liverpool face a gradual return process rather than an immediate end to their injury concerns.