Speculation surrounding the futures of Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong has ramped up this week for one reason or another, as Liverpool’s transfer plans for the summer appear to be coming clearer.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s impending move to Real Madrid is already starting to feel like slightly old news; that will surely change when Liverpool’s season resumes next week, but for now attention has switched to potential summer arrivals at Anfield.
It was reported by the Press Association on Thursday that Liverpool has held early talks over the possibility of signing Bayer Leverkusen star Frimpong in the off-season. 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 was described as an obvious “domino factor” by Press Association sources.
Frimpong, 24, is currently playing in his fourth full season for Bayer Leverkusen, and since moving to Germany he has established himself as one of the best players in the world in his position. The Dutchman primarily plays as a wing-back in Xabi Alonso’s system, and has even played further forward as a right-winger, but he also has plenty of experience at right-back, which is where he would be likely to start out were he to join Liverpool.
Kerkez, meanwhile, has left the door more than slightly ajar for a departure from Bournemouth in the summer. In a new interview with The Athletic, he was asked whether he sees the next step in his career as being a “return to one of Europe’s elite clubs”. Kerkez, who was previously on AC Milan’s books, responded: “As a kid, you dream to play at the highest level, win the trophies, be on the best teams.
“These are the things that my agent is on. My dad is on. It is not something that they occupy me with because the season is still going, so there’s no point to talk about anything. There’s games left, the FA Cup is important for us — these are big things. And then, like I say, when someone comes (in for you) you never know what’s going to happen or where you’re going to end up. In the summer, we will see what happens.”
Kerkez has not been at Bournemouth for long, but it sounds as though he is already to move on, and Liverpool is the team he has been most strongly linked with.
In a YouTube stream during January, the 21-year-old responded to rumors linking him with Liverpool in a manner that Reds fans wouldn’t have liked, saying: “I will not go to Liverpool. For everybody listening, I will not go to Liverpool.”
It would have been silly to read too much into that, though, given Kerkez was unlikely to say otherwise and risk piling unnecessary pressure on himself for the remainder of the campaign.
If Frimpong and Kerkez do move to Liverpool this summer, one suspects they will take Alexander-Arnold’s and Robertson’s places in the team, with a change in formation unlikely despite both players’ potential to operate as wing-backs, as Arne Slot clearly favors playing with four defenders.
Here’s how we think Liverpool could line up with Robertson and Kerkez (note: we’ve kept the rest of Liverpool’s players around them the same, but the Reds are expected to strengthen in other areas as well this summer):
Liverpool line-up with Frimpong and Kerkez: Alisson; Frimpong, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Gakpo, Jota
