Liverpool has moved incredibly quickly to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold after extending Conor Bradley’s contract to ensure his stay with the Reds, before agreeing a deal with Bayer Leverkusen to sign Jeremie Frimpong.
Multiple reports are now suggesting that Richard Hughes and Liverpool’s backroom deal have agreed personal teams with Frimpong with the club set to activate the right-back’s release clause. Liverpool will pay around $39 million, which reportedly can be paid in multiple instalments.
According to reports, Frimpong will sign a five-year deal with the Reds, with a medical said to be booked for the player to come in and immediately compete for Alexander-Arnold’s place after two impressive seasons under Xabi Alonso.
The right-back is likely to be given a significant pay rise ahead of his move to Liverpool, currently earning $86,000 per week at Leverkusen. Alexander-Arnold is believed to be making around $235,000 at the Reds, likely to be increased once he moves to Real Madrid after announcing his decision to leave Merseyside.
While it has become apparent over the last few days that a deal for Frimpong was close, news begun to emerge early Saturday afternoon that a deal was done.
The attack-minded full back played as a wing-back for Leverkusen, with his role with the Reds being questioned on whether he is strong enough defensively.
He’ll be competing with Bradley, who signed a new five-year deal himself on Saturday, where he has likely been given a significant pay rise after another impressive season in being the back-up behind Alexander-Arnold.
Frimpong will join Giorgi Mamardashvili through the door this summer, who will join Liverpool on July 1 after signing a deal last season and spending a year on loan with Valencia, who he’d spent the previous four years with.
Slot was asked about Frimpong earlier this week, as he told reporters: “It’s going to be a boring answer… for the whole season it was about contract extensions. And now we are arriving in a time where everybody wants to know which players we’re going to bring in.
“We don’t talk about the players we want to bring in, in public, until the moment they’ve signed for us. We already have Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, so it’s not like when Trent is leaving I have no clue what to do anymore, but as a club, we are always looking at interesting players that can strengthen our squad. That’s the general answer, I’m not talking about individuals.”
Alexander-Arnold will have just two games to go in a Liverpool shirt, where they will be away at Brighton on Monday before returning to Anfield to lift the Premier League trophy after their game with Crystal Palace.
Slot hopes that Alexander-Arnold will not be boo’d after the games, as he had been following his entrance to the field when they faced Arsenal last week.
He said: “Last week, people talked about it to me, then we had the reaction of the fans inside the stadium, then all the pundits talked about it, all the country talked about it, and now it’s time to draw a line under it. Let’s focus on the fact we won the league, and let’s enjoy the upcoming week and not talk about the Trent situation.”
Frimpong will not be able to join the Reds until July 1, the first day of the new season.
