How Liverpool can make Man City regret letting Jeremie Frimpong go

Xabi Alonso is one of the most talked-about coaches of the season with his Bayer Leverkusen side top of the Bundesliga by a margin of eight points, into the DFB Pokal semi finals and through to the last 16 of the Europa League.

It looks like being a landmark season for Leverkusen with Alonso in the conversation to become the next manager of Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

Not only the coach has caught the attention of the European elite however. Leverkusen boast some of the best performers in Europe this season with the likes of Edmond Tapsoba, Piero Hincapie, Odilon Kossounou, Alex Grimaldo, Florian Wirtz and Victor Boniface now reportedly on the shopping lists of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, as well as those around the continent.

It looks like Manager Director Sport Simon Rolfes will have a job on his hands not only convincing Alonso to see out his contract until 2026 but to keep his excellent squad together.

Frimpong taken to the next level by Alonso

Aside from the aforementioned group of players above, the form of Jeremie Frimpong has been key to Leverkusen’s evolution under their Spanish manager.

He combines the roles of right back, right midfielder and right winger quite excellently and, in Leverkusen’s unique 3-4-3 configuration, he and Grimaldo function in a way that might remind older observers of Cafu and Roberto Carlos for Brazil at the 2002 World Cup.

They are not full backs in any tradition sense; Frimpong barely sees the ball in his own half. Instead he is always marauding further up the pitch, ready to supply his striker or No.10s with one-twos and is not shy about getting into the box to score goals either.

The 23-year-old has got numbers that would make Manchester United’s wide forwards blush and that’s in addition to him carrying out his more regular defensive duties.

He has played 123 times for Leverkusen to date, weighing in with 20 goals and a further 29 assists. This season he has managed seven goals and six assists in 21 Bundesliga matches. It’s no surprise he was voted into the Bundesliga team of the season last term and he is destined to go on to greater things. Alonso has helped take his game to another level.

He is direct and explosive and has been clocked as one of the league’s quickest players this season, registering a top speed of a fraction under 36 kilometres per hour.

Frimpong excels one on one, has the dribbling skills of a winger, and is comfortable receiving the ball high up the pitch. He is at home high up the pitch with a solid bank of three centre backs to protect him.

If there is a question mark it is over his defending, with Leverkusen getting exposed on occasion this season in the channels between their widest centre back and an out-of-position wing back. That however is a consequence for the way they play. At 5’8, he has been dubbed slight but he is more than holding his own in one on one duels.

Question marks over defending

Then-Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal had no issues with calling up the rookie youngster for his World Cup squad in December 2022, despite his relative lack of the Dutch language.

He will have benefitted from the experience of a quarter-final run even if he did not get on the pitch for the Oranje. He has since made his debut under Ronald Koeman, playing half an hour in a 2-1 Euro 2024 qualification loss to France last autumn.

The former Barcelona manager is still not convinced of his defensive capabilities however, telling the press last year when he left Frimpong out of a previous squad: “No Frimpong? This is because of the system that we play in.

“He plays almost as a right winger. My right back should be able to defend well in the first place and I have my doubts about that.”

Frimpong isn’t a prolific crosser, he is instead more of a combination player. You don’t always find him hugging the touchline, instead he likes to drop into the so-called “half spaces” to exchange passes with his attackers and make late bursts into the box.

Born to a Ghanaian mother in Amsterdam, the family moved to the UK when young Jeremie was seven and lived in Manchester until his move to Celtic in 2019.

He began playing for the Manchester City academy when he was nine years old but did not make a first team appearance before moving north of the border.

Rolfes signed Frimpong from Celtic for a relative snip at €11 million in January 2021. He had played two seasons for the Hoops, winning a treble, quickly becoming a fan favourite due to his electric pace and dribbling ability.

"His profile as a fast player with incredible acceleration and good technique was clear, but the conclusion wasn’t, as he could improve other things. He created three or four possible chances per game, but his last ball wasn’t that good,” Rolfes told Bulinews about signing Frimpong.

“I thought that if I didn't put my trust in our coaches to help him improve that, then when would I ever choose to sign a player? Because how many full-backs are able to create three or four possible chances? Not a lot.

“His ability to accelerate and decelerate is world-class. If you’re world-class at something at Celtic and in the Bundesliga, that’s also the case in other leagues. There were other things he had to improve when he came, and he has done fantastic. He has the right ambition to work on himself."

The new Alexander-Arnold?

Leverkusen quickly signed their new signing to a four-and-a-half year contract, due to expire in 2025. However, in order to safeguard their investment, the club moved to renew him last October and his new deal expires in 2028.

There is a reported €40m release clause, due to be activated this summer, and that would provide one of the bargains of the window for any interested parties.

City might well come to regret their decision to let him go in the years to come with rivals Arsenal and Liverpool now moving into position to sign him.

“He is someone who reminds me of Trent Alexander Arnold, because he is primarily an attacking full-back and sometimes he forgets that he needs to defend as well,” former Leverkusen star Dimitar Berbatov told Stats Perform last year.

“But the way he’s playing, bravely going up the pitch, attacking, running, assisting and scoring goals, it’s a joy for me to watch, to be honest.”

With Alonso reportedly interested in the Anfield hotseat, it’s been suggested that he might take with him some of his better Leverkusen performers, Frimpong among them.

The question was put to Frimpong this week by Dutch media outlet ZiggoTV and he replied of the Liverpool links: "Great club with history. That would be great. Who knows what the future holds.”

The Liverpool link is interesting because they have got Trent Alexander-Arnold in that position. However, the 25-year-old has pushed further and further towards the midfield as he evolves as a player.

If Trent sees his future post-Jurgen Klopp as a midfielder then Liverpool are going to need a new right back. For attacking output alone, they could do worse than take a look at Frimpong.