Jeremie Frimpong is the Dutch speedster who doesn’t speak Dutch. Frimpong is set to step into Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shoes at Liverpool, with the Premier League champions agreeing to trigger the $39.8 million clause in his Bayer Leverkusen contract.
The move to join fellow countrymen Arne Slot, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch at Anfield is expected to be finalised in the coming days, following Bayer’s end-of-season Bundesliga match against Mainz. Liverpool has, however, missed out on signing Bournemouth’s Dean Hujisen.
His squad number is still yet to be decided, though details of his contract and salary appear to have already been leaked. Slot is keen to inject more speed into his squad after witnessing it struggle to keep up with a lively Paris St Germain team in the Champions League – and Frimpong fits the bill. However, Slot will need to converse with his new recruit in English.
Born in Amsterdam to Ghanaian parents, Frimpong relocated to Manchester with his mother and siblings at the age of seven following her divorce, which led to him losing his Dutch language skills. As a promising young player, Frimpong opted for Manchester City over Liverpool due to the convenience of the club’s training ground being just a bus ride away.
When it came to international duty, he chose Holland over Ghana when Louis van Gaal selected him for his birth country ahead of the 2022 World Cup. He was also eligible to play for England. Van Gaal and the rest of the Dutch squad were taken aback when the full-back turned up for duty unable to speak Dutch. Over the past three years, Frimpong has managed to pick up a few key phrases but still prefers to communicate in English.
The player didn’t make his debut until Van Gaal was succeeded by Ronald Koeman following the tournament in Qatar. Frimpong reminisced: “Louis van Gaal told me that I had to have patience, but that I would absolutely make it. I remember being on the training pitch at Bayer Leverkusen when the Dutch squad for the World Cup in Qatar was announced. Upon returning to the dressing room at Leverkusen, I found my phone inundated with messages.
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“I was added to the national team’s WhatsApp group. Louis had posted a video announcing all the players he wanted in the Dutch squad for the World Cup. I didn’t play in Qatar but Louis said ‘your time will come, please have patience.’ When Ronald Koeman came in he made it clear he had full trust in me as a player.”
Slot now has a ready replacement for Real Madrid-bound Alexander-Arnold even before the England defender departs Anfield. Speed has always been a crucial element in the Liverpool manager’s tactical approach. During his time as coach of Feyenoord, Slot revealed: “I like players who can change direction at speed and force things to happen. You can’t have enough of them.”
Frimpong’s journey to Anfield began in Manchester, where he attracted the attention of scouts from several clubs – including City and Liverpool. He elaborated: “There were many scouts, but Liverpool was my first choice. I wanted to sign there, but nobody in my family drove a car then and Liverpool was far away. Manchester City was much closer, so that made a lot more sense.”
Frimpong enjoyed high praise at Manchester City though he never broke into the first team before transferring to Celtic for a mere $400,000 in 2019. He clinched the Scottish treble in his debut season in Glasgow, subsequently being snapped up by Leverkusen for $1.9 million in January 2021.
The full-back was instrumental in securing the German double under Xabi Alonso last term and has been on Slot’s list since the news broke that Alexander-Arnold would not renew his contract. Slot witnessed Frimpong’s remarkable display in a Nations League quarter-final for the Netherlands, outclassing Spain’s Marc Cucurella with dynamic surges from the right flank, in Rotterdam back in March.
Frimpong intends to embark on a brief holiday before joining the international squad for World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Malta next month – with expectations high to don the Liverpool kit before his departure.
