Liverpool is being ever more intensely linked with a new right-back, with Jeremie Frimpong’s name being mentioned more and more often.
There are fears that may mean the writing is on the wall when it comes to Trent Alexander-Arnold – although Real Madrid apparently holds an interest in Frimpong as well. Clearly, Liverpool would have plenty of other transfer priorities in the event that Alexander-Arnold remained loyal to his boyhood club. His understudy Conor Bradley is a major talent in his own right, so Arne Slot would surely feel sufficiently stocked, with the other side of the defense in need of more attention.
But asking Bradley to step up on his own would be a big risk, especially given his patchy injury record. This may be where Frimpong enters the frame, and there would be genuine cause for excitement if he arrived at Anfield.
He isn’t Alexander-Arnold, but if Liverpool finds itself looking for a replacement, it will need to accept that a like-for-like transfer is impossible. What Frimpong does offer is a textbook example of a hyper-attacking full-back.
Slot would need to adjust to the loss of playmaking passes from right-back, but he would be compensated with plenty more lung-busting runs into dangerous areas. Frimpong is in the 99th percentile among full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues over the last year when it comes to expected goals, and the 94th percentile when it comes to expected assists.
Those numbers are influenced by how far forward Frimpong has played for Bayer Leverkusen under Xabi Alonso, in something more like a right midfield position. But that in itself indicates how influential he is in an attacking sense, with the manager keen to get him up the pitch – and with 125 career appearances at right-back as well, he does have both sides to his game.
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Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman has also hailed Frimpong’s speed as an “amazing weapon.” He has clocked 36.01 km/h in the Bundesliga this season, the ninth-fastest in the division, having also completed the fourth-highest number of total sprints.
Frimpong did nothing to dampen Liverpool excitement over the latest international break. Not only did he perform very well, he also greeted Ryan Gravenberch in a mock Scouse accent, sending the rumor mill into overdrive.
But it’s been suggested that Liverpool may need to beat off interest from Real Madrid. The irony of that will not be lost on anyone, given that the Reds would only be in the market for a right-back in the event that Los Blancos successfully poached Alexander-Arnold.
It would be the most Real Madrid move ever to sign both of them, leaving the Reds in no-man’s-land. But it will be some comfort to Liverpool that Frimpong is only on the Spanish giant’s agenda in the event that Alexander-Arnold does not sign, according to TeamTalk.
That sets up a scenario where everyone gets something good out of the summer merry-go-round, even though Liverpool’s preference by far will still be to hold onto Alexander-Arnold. A deal for Frimpong would go down as decisive action in the face of an undeniable blow – and disappointment at losing the vice-captain could quickly turn into excitement about the next chapter under Slot.
