Manchester City’s loss could well be Liverpool’s gain this summer if Jeremie Frimpong completes a move to Anfield.
Speculation is growing that the Bayer Leverkusen star could become Trent Alexander-Arnold’s replacement, with the current Reds vice-captain of course on his way to Real Madrid.
As Liverpool.com reported two months ago, there has been a long-standing interest in Frimpong, and Arne Slot and Richard Hughes now look to be acting quickly upon that. The latest suggestion is that talks are already advanced with the Netherlands international, and that the player himself is keen on the move to Merseyside.
His previous comments would appear to bear that out, and given his agent’s cryptic message this week, it does seem that the wheels are in motion for him to finally make his move to Liverpool, having missed out on that opportunity as a youngster.
As the player himself has pointed out in the past, a move to Anfield was always his first choice. Circumstance, and a much more convenient bus ride, meant he would head to the Etihad Stadium instead, joining City as a nine-year-old and rising through the ranks in Manchester.
In 2019 though came a turning point for Frimpong. Looking to make his final step into Pep Guardiola’s first-team, he was instead stopped in his tracks as it became clear that he needed to make a decision.
(Image: Mark Fletcher/NurPhoto via Getty Images.)
“I kept playing [an age group] down and I think when I was Under 23’s at City, I remember going in for a new contract and that’s when I knew my path at City was different,” Frimpong told SportBible in an interview last year.
“They were talking about how I couldn’t get into the team and were comparing me to other players in the academy that were doing better than me. I thought, ‘Yeah I clearly don’t have a future here’ so I’ve got to take a different step.
“I remember going to that meeting and he was saying, ‘You’re too small’ and it’ll be too physical. That’s when I was thinking, ‘Oh s***’, where am I gonna go?’.
(Image: Getty Images)
“I have no regrets at all. We all know not everyone can play for City’s first-team as an academy player. It’s still not nice hearing these things as a kid but I just had to take a different path.”
He did indeed take a different path, and things have not gone too badly for him in the slightest.
After joining Celtic upon his departure from City, he won a treble in his first season in Scotland, and he would of course go on to be part of the historic Leverkusen side that won an unbeaten domestic double last year.
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Now, he could finally get the chance to play for the club he wanted to as a youngster, and make the team that let him go pay for their decision.
Guardiola certainly wouldn’t mind having a player like Frimpong in his squad right now. City will almost certainly be in the market for a right-back this summer, with Kyle Walker already looking like he’s part way out of the exit door after his loan at AC Milan, while playing Matheus Nunes out of position doesn’t look to be the solution.
What’s more, Guardiola was left bemoaning his side’s inability to create chances for Erling Haaland after the surprise goalless draw at Southampton at the weekend – something that perhaps wouldn’t be so much of a worry with Frimpong in his team.
“Erling needs people to deliver balls to him, it doesn’t matter whether it comes from wingers, full-backs or attacking midfielders. All guys can do those balls,” Guardiola said.
Everything City and Guardiola wants then, Liverpool looks as though it will be getting this summer. It’s not a done deal just yet, but the Reds look like they could make their rivals regret ever letting go of Frimpong.
