Trent Alexander-Arnold’s choice to leave Anfield for Real Madrid left a sour taste in the mouths of most Liverpool fans.
The fact that the Englishman left for nothing just rubbed even more salt in the wounds, with fans now making him enemy number one.
And, although fans were hurt by Alexander-Arnold’s departure, the fact that Arne Slot and Richard Hughes sourced his replacement almost instantly shows that the club had been preparing for it for some time.
Jeremie Frimpong may not have Premier League experience, but with the goal contributions he’s had from right-back over the last couple of years for Bayer Leverkusen, he’s bound to be a hit at Anfield.
Jeremie Frimpong smiles as he poses following his unveiling as a new Liverpool player.
Credit: Getty Images/Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC
Fans may miss Alexander-Arnold being Liverpool’s right back, but after the performances he’s put in for Real Madrid, it could end up being a rather smart move.
Darren Bent believes that Trent Alexander-Arnold is missing having Mohamed Salah in front of him
Although Alexander-Arnold will be competing with Dani Carvajal for the starting right-back spot in Los Blancos’ team, there are still some areas of his game that need refining.
The entirety of the right-back’s football education has come from Liverpool, and seeing as though he was managed by Jurgen Klopp for many years, his style of play has become synonymous with that.
However, since Slot and Xabi Alonso both play differently to Klopp, the Englishman has had to change the way he plays twice in two seasons.
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And, while live on talkSPORT, Darren Bent gave his verdict on Alexander-Arnold’s recent performances.
“The first half he struggled [against Juventus], I thought the first half he really struggled,” he said.
“He gave the ball away and you can quite clearly see, because Liverpool play completely different to Real Madrid, some of the passes he was playing, you’d have seen the likes of Salah getting after it and Luis Diaz on the other side.
“There was a couple of times where he kind of got caught in between, and he wasn’t sure whether to play the ball forward or just keep possession.”
Liverpool will be hoping that Jeremie Frimpong will hit the ground running
Now that Frimpong has been added to their ranks, Liverpool have two right-backs who deserve a place in Slot’s starting XI.
Conor Bradley recently extended his stay at Anfield, so there’s no doubt that both of the right-backs will be trying to do their best in pre-season to earn that starting role.
Frimpong only cost the club around £30million, so even if things don’t click straight away, there will still be plenty of time for him to make up for it.
Jeremie Frimpong watches on from the bench during the Netherlands FIFA World Cup qualifier against Malta.
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
However, since he’s contributed to 43 goals across all competitions over the last two seasons, there’s clearly plenty of potential within him waiting to be unlocked.
Only time will tell what the future holds, but on paper, the transfer of Frimpong seems to have been a smart move from Slot and Hughes.