Liverpool has held initial talks over signing Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong. The Reds are expected to be in the market for a new right-back this summer after it emerged that Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to leave the club for Real Madrid, and Frimpong, who primarily plays as a right wing-back or as a right winger, is under consideration to replace the England international.
Liverpool.com reported earlier this week that Liverpool is among a number of top clubs that is monitoring Frimpong, who has emerged as one of the best players in the world in his position.
Talks are said to be at an early stage, but Alexander-Arnold‘s expected departure is described as an obvious “domino factor” by Press Association sources.
Frimpong is into his fourth full season at Bayer Leverkusen after joining the Bundesliga club from Celtic in January 2021, after he had spent 16 months with the Glasgow club following his departure from Manchester City, where he was an academy player for almost a decade.
City, Manchester United and Chelsea are also mentioned as clubs that are interested in potentially signing Frimpong, who is also an established Netherlands international.
Alexander-Arnold’s expected departure will leave Liverpool needing a new right-back to go alongside Conor Bradley, who has emerged as a viable first-team option over the last year or so.
Bradley has missed a significant amount of games this season due to muscle injuries, and it would be a bold move for the Reds to trust him to stand up to the rigors of playing twice a week for a full season across the Premier League and in the Champions League.
Frimpong said last year that it would be “great” to sign for Liverpool. When the prospect of moving to Anfield was put to him, he responded: “A great club, with history. That would be great. Who knows what the future will bring?”
Frimpong previously revealed that he nearly joined Liverpool as a youngster, but ultimately ended up joining City as the club was easier to get to from where he lived.
Frimpong was born in the Netherlands but has spent the majority of his life in Britain, moving there as a seven-year-old and joining the City academy when he was nine. Frimpong never made a senior appearance for City before joining Celtic in 2019, where he stayed for one and a half seasons ahead of joining Leverkusen.
“I chose Liverpool first,” Frimpong said. “I was going to sign for them but back then, driving wasn’t a thing. My family wasn’t driving and it was far. Obviously, Man City was local, so I tried Man City next, and then it made more sense. It was 15 minutes on the bus, so yeah.”
