Hibs confirm transfer of winger to Livingston as Easter Road January clear-out begins

Stevie Bradley has joined Livingston from Hibs on a three-and-a-half year deal following a successful trial spell with the West Lothian outfit.

The winger has been training with David Martindale’s side and scored twice against FK Liepāja of Lithuania and Dutch side Fortuna Sittard during the break for the World Cup, as Livingston won the Titanic Cup in Turkey, but may be farmed out on loan for the second half of the cinch Premiership campaign in order to get more gametime.

Martindale said last week: “He’s only a young kid who’s not played a lot of men’s football. He’s not going to come in and hit the ground running with Livingston but he’s one I’ll maybe look to bring in and put back out on loan.”

The finer details of the youngster’s move to Livingston will remain undisclosed but the Evening News understands the Easter Road side has a sizeable sell-on clause should Bradley be sold in the future.

Stevie Bradley made five appearances for Hibs

The 20-year-old joined Hibs in the summer of 2019 from Queen’s Park after coming through the youth ranks at Rangers, and made his senior debut under Jack Ross in a 4-0 victory over Hamilton Accies in December 2020. He would make four more competitive appearances for the Capital club and impressed on loan during spells with Ayr United and Dundalk in the League of Ireland, scoring six goals and registering seven assists in 35 games for the Lilywhites. His last appearance for Hibs came in a 2-0 defeat by Celtic at Parkhead under Shaun Maloney.

Addressing Bradley’s departure, Hibs manager Lee Johnson said: “This is a good opportunity for Steven to kickstart his senior career after a good spell in Ireland. We wish him all the best for the future.”

While Bradley can’t officially join Livingston until January 1, when the winter transfer window opens, he will continue to train with the side in the meantime, and could make his debut against against Motherwell on January 2 at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Martindale added: “I would like to go on record thanking Hibs for allowing Stevie the opportunity to join us here at Livingston. I’m delighted to get it over the line. He has been training with me for the last week or so and again a huge thank you to all at Hibs for allowing that to happen.

“Steven is at an age where I felt we were a little light in terms of quality and age profile. He has done extremely well in training and during the game time we afforded to him over the last week or so. I think we can help him reach the obvious potential he has.

"He has a fantastic left foot and has an eye for a goal and comfortable in 1 v 1 situations – there’s a lot to like about him. He now has the opportunity to play premiership football and from what I have seen over the last week, he will become a very important member of our first-team team squad here.

"He has fitted in very well with the group and I am really looking forward to working with Steven and hopefully see him push for a starting position in the coming weeks and months.”