New Liverpool signing Jeremie Frimpong spent 18 months at Celtic.New Liverpool signing Jeremie Frimpong spent 18 months at Celtic.
New Liverpool signing Jeremie Frimpong spent 18 months at Celtic. | SNS Group
Jeremie Frimpong knew that he wanted to reach the top of football and annoyed one former boss on his path to Liverpool.
No sooner had Trent Alexander-Arnold emptied his locker and packed his sunglasses for the sunnier climes of Madrid than Jeremie Frimpong was announced as a Liverpool player.
The king is dead, long live the king.
Since Jean-Marc Bosman blazed his trail across football, the power that managers once felt has diminished, but there is a definite influence of Arne Slot in the arrival of the former Reds No.66’s replacement.
Frimpong signed for £29.5m and the 24-year old Netherlands international has been around a long time already, similar to Trent, an exciting breakthrough as a teenager went from strength to strength.
Jeremie Frimpong annoyed Neil Lennon when he forced through Celtic exit
At Celtic, it was clear that he was destined for bigger things, not that Neil Lennon was happy about losing his young right-back to Bayer Leverkusen in 2021:
“It’s difficult when it’s a player you’ve helped to develop,” Lennon said via The Times. “You’re sorry to see him go but, ultimately, he didn’t want to stay and progress here. There was a determination about him to go so we took our decision.
“Yes, I feel a bit let down because we felt we could progress him further and we offered him a new deal which would have kept him here for another two or three years but it was down to the player’s personal ambition. Whether that’s the right way for him remains to be seen. For us, though, from a business point of view and maybe from a footballing point of view as well . . . when a player’s mind is set like that it’s very difficult to bring him back round.”
With a Bundesliga title to his name and a move to the Premier League champions, leaving Scotland was clearly the right thing to do.
After taking a step back to step forwards, there will be unfinished business for Frimpong in returning to England.
Liverpool land bargain as Frimpong fee comparison with Premier League transfers proves
It was an investment that paid off handsomely when Leverkusen paid £10m to land the explosive defender just a couple of years later.
It is an investment that continues to pay dividends given that Celtic are set to pocket over £6m from a clause inserted into Frimpong’s contract when he moved to Germany.
For example, the £29.5m is some way off the top 20 for record fees paid for defenders.
Ben White and Ben Chilwell are both on the list with fees of over £50m, Aaran Wan-Bissaka is too at £55m.
All are good players, but far from the top tier of international footballer that the departed Alexander-Arnold is.
Frimpong isn’t there yet, but he has the potential to become the best in the Premier League if he polishes the rough edges to his game.
The determination that saw him demand to leave Celtic, could see him become every bit as popular as the player whose boots he is set to fill.
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