Liverpool could target Bayer Leverkusen wing-back Jeremie Frimpong this summer with Trent Alexander-Arnold moving on and joining Real Madrid.
And Frimpong has already made comments in the past about following Virgil van Dijk, who also used to play for Celtic. The pair now play alongside each other at international level and might soon do so at club level too if Liverpool does advance with a move.
Born in Amsterdam but then moving to England at seven and playing for Manchester City at youth level from nine, Frimpong would be a homegrown player if Liverpool chose to sign him. He was also eligible to play for Ghana and England but opted for the Dutch.
Frimpong has previously explained that he moved away from Manchester City because Pep Guardiola had just signed Joao Cancelo. As a result of that big-money signing, he felt that he wouldn’t get a chance to play regular senior games.
Frimpong moved to Celtic first before joining Leverkusen in 2021. He has since played more than 130 games in the Bundesliga, establishing himself as one of the best up-and-coming talents in the division.
“I’d 100 per cent like to do what Virgil has done,” Frimpong, who had at the time only been capped three times at U19 level by the Netherlands national set-up, told The Scotsman in 2019 — meaning following the Liverpool captain in playing for Celtic and then representing the Netherlands at senior level.
(Image: Pau Barrena/Getty Images)
“There is a pathway at Celtic; you get chances here to do that,” he said. “The Dutch national team play a lot of young players, like Matthijs de Ligt, who are really good. They are building another great team, and it would be exciting to be a part of that.”
If Frimpong does end up at Anfield, he would be there with Van Dijk, who signed a new two-year contract recently. The Leverkusen ace has a release clause worth around $39 million (£30 million) written into his contract.
“I’m still working on my Dutch,” he said in the same 2019 interview. “I know how to speak it a little. If I do play for the national team, I’ll try and learn it properly.”
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It has been widely reported in the last 24 hours or so that Frimpong would be open to moving to Liverpool. He is a very different kind of full-back to Alexander-Arnold but the Reds were never going to find an exact replica.
Frimpong could actually have signed for Liverpool when he was nine, but he instead opted to go to Manchester City because it was closer and easier to get to.
“I was going to sign for [Liverpool], but back then, driving wasn’t a thing, you know. My family wasn’t driving, and it was far,” he told Rising Ballers. “Man City was local, so I tried Man City next. It made more sense. It was 15 minutes on the bus.”
Liverpool.com says: Frimpong would be a very attacking full-back but there is Conor Bradley to consider as well. Between the pair, Arne Slot would have two different options that he could choose between depending on the opponent.
