By Jack Lusby, ThisIsAnfield.com
With a medical completed and his contract signed, Frimpong will officially become a Liverpool player when the transfer window opens on June 1, as the first signing of a window that will see Arne Slot reshape his title-winning squad.
In many ways it is a necessary signing, coming on the back of Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s public confirmation that he will leave the club on the expiry of his contract, but there was surprise as the story developed.
Liverpool were widely reported to be focusing on other areas in the squad, with left-back a priority position, as Slot repeatedly stressed his faith in Conor Bradley as first-choice right-back.
That belief remains, with Bradley now signing a new long-term contract and starting both games since Alexander-Arnold’s announcement, but the addition of another right-sider certainly adds to the intrigue heading into the 2025/26 campaign.
Opportunity
Put simply, the opportunity to sign a player who, still only 24, has played 190 times for a Leverkusen side who went unbeaten to lift the Bundesliga title last season, is a regular starter for the Netherlands and qualifies as homegrown in the Premier League was too big to pass up.
To do so for just £29.5 million owing to a release clause in his contract at the BayArena made sure the numbers on the balance sheet matched up with those on analytics charts in Liverpool’s boardroom.
It is that word, opportunity, which has hallmarked Liverpool’s transfer strategy in recent years – and that will certainly remain the case this summer despite more of an emphasis on actively strengthening the squad.
While in Slot’s first transfer window he and sporting director Richard Hughes were minded to stay patient and only strike if the right deal presented itself – namely Federico Chiesa as inexpensive, experienced forward cover at just £10 million – now there are key positions to target and more opportunities to pursue.
Take the shock interest in Frimpong’s Leverkusen teammate Florian Wirtz for example.
Such has been Liverpool’s reluctance to engage in top-table tugs-of-war in recent years that there is a disbelief over the club genuinely committing as much as £125 million to sign one player.
But, again, weigh up the overall metrics and that could still resemble value for money for a player of Wirtz’s age, quality, experience and, perhaps above all, versatility.
Versatility
Like Frimpong, who is expected to compete with not only Bradley at right-back but also provide cover for Mohamed Salah higher up on the right flank, Wirtz is a player who excels in a variety of roles.
The 22-year-old is at his best occupying the space between the lines as an attacking No. 10, but he is also comfortable deeper, on either flank and even as a central striker.
Seven goals and seven assists in 15 games as a No. 9 of sorts may have convinced Liverpool further in a summer where moves could develop for Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz and perhaps even Diogo Jota.
While certain positions require specialists, as would be the case in signing Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez for the left-back spot, those working within the offices of the AXA Training Centre will consider versatility to be a premium.
That also informs the profile of striker Liverpool will target with Núñez at the very least set to move on; rather than the battering-ram centre-forward Jürgen Klopp and Pepijn Lijnders pushed for in 2022, Slot has outlined his preference for a nine-and-a-half.
Atlético Madrid’s Julián Alvarez would fit that mould, as would Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike and similarly Benjamin Šeško, as strikers who are capable of drifting and covering vast spaces in the final third while also providing that cutting edge.
Of course, as with Wirtz, any of those players would require a significant outlay, with Liverpool almost certain to break their transfer record at least once this summer.
Big money and early deals
That also appears to be a marker of things to come: on the back of Slot’s outstanding maiden campaign, owners Fenway Sports Group are prepared to invest heavily to ensure continued success with a squad shaped in his own image.
There will be an awareness of an increasingly inflated market and the pool of players who can break into the starting lineup growing smaller and smaller, and therefore it may be necessary to spend big on a talent of Wirtz’s ilk than, as has largely been their approach before, taking a calculated risk on potential at a lower price.
Liverpool are, after all, seated at the top table and seem ready to armour themselves to remain there – which, in a summer furnished with the first edition of an expanded Club World Cup, will also necessitate early business for elite clubs whether involved or not.
Frimpong’s arrival at Anfield stands to be the first of many, and though a signing that came out of the leftfield for those with reservations over his profile as a wing-back rather than a natural right-back, that £29.5 million deal may tell us more about Liverpool’s plans than it may seem.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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