- 9 hours ago
Jeremie Frimpong is Liverpool's latest transfer masterclass: Hughes strikes GENIUS deal
Analysis
Liverpool are Premier League champions and are already making power moves in the transfer market.
The Reds have lifted the Premier League title but the season isn't over yet. Despite there being two matchdays to go, Arne Slot's men are in party mode after dominating Arsenal so thoroughly they could claim the title with games to spare.
However while the players party it up, sporting director Richard Hughes is hard at work preparing the squad for next season.
STATS
Trent Alexander-Arnold
D (R)
Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold
D (R)
Liverpool
They've already lost Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has confirmed he's leaving at the end of his contract in the summer (with Real Madrid his alleged destination).
But Hughes has, according to reports, already replaced the Englishman for next season. And in typical Liverpool fashion, he's done so by getting a bargain.
Bundesliga and DFB Pokal-winning wing-back Jeremie Frimpong is going to sign for Liverpool, and he's going to do so for the astonishingly low price of €35 million.
STATS
Jeremie Frimpong
M, D (R)
Bayer 04
Jeremie Frimpong
M, D (R)
Bayer 04
For comparison, that's about the price that Man Utd are expected to pay for Liam Delap, a 22 year-old striker who scored 12 league goals this season.
Or just slightly more than the €30 million that United paid for Patrick Dorgu, a talented but raw prospect from Lecce with less than 100 career starts to his name.
Jeremie Frimpong: a dynamic bargain
Meanwhile Frimpong is a Netherlands international who, last season, was a key part of Bayer Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga for the first time in their 120 year history, capturing just their second DFB Pokal and getting all the way to the Europa League final.
He's a world-class wing-back, and world-class wing-backs go for a hell of a lot more than €35 million. Frimpong's ETV is €55 million and one would expect the fee to surpass that, but Frimpong had a release clause put into the contract extension he signed in 2023, enabling a cheap move.
Richard Hughes finding a player of Frimpong's quality with a release clause as low as the Dutchman's is a masterpiece of scouting and talent identification.
Current ETV
Jeremie Frimpong
M, D (R)
Bayer 04
Jeremie Frimpong
M, D (R)
Bayer 04
ETV Range
€49.5M - €60.6M
Frimpong provides Liverpool an instant replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Dutch international speaks perfect English, so settling at the club will be no problem (especially as he is compatriots with manager Arne Slot) and he fills right in at right-back.
Frimpong isn't the best defender, similarly to Trent, but he is quick as a hiccup. Having absurd recovery pace can make up for a multitude of defensive ineptitudes (e.g. Jordi Alba's entire career), so you can expect Liverpool to be harder to gouge down their right than they were with Trent holding it down.
Meanwhile Frimpong can also play right-wing, should they ever feel the need to actually rest Mohamed Salah. And of course Frimpong is naturally a wing-back, which gives Arne Slot the flexibilty to change to a 3-4-3 formation should he want to.
His signing provides Liverpool with immense and immediate quality, as well as a whole new dimension on the right side of their team. Imagine Salah now with the freedom to drive infield at will, knowing that Frimpong will be tearing on his outside on the overlap?
Getting Salah closer to the opponent's goal, thus giving him more chances to devastate opponents when he has just spent a season doing just that is a mildly terrifying prospect.
Frimpong allows them to do that, and his transfer fee is so miniscule the Reds will still have plenty of money left to sign other players to further bolster the squad (there is a rumoured link to Frimpong's team-mate Florian Wirtz).
Liverpool: bargain hunters
Liverpool have a history of finding bargains and good fees, first under former sporting director (and current CEO of football for Fenway Sports Group, overseeing all clubs they own including Liverpool) Michael Edwards, and now under Richard Hughes.
The excellent Ryan Gravenberch joined Liverpool for just €40 million despite his immense skill-ceiling because he was deemed a "flop" at Bayern Munich. Alexis MacAllister cost just €42 million even though he was a World Cup winner. And then most impressively, Andy Robertson cost the Reds just €9 million from relegated Hull back in 2017.
Securing a Bundesliga winner and player of Frimpong's calibre for €35 million is almost as impressive as the Robertson transfer, it's that good.
Football transfer news headlines today
Liverpool on the brink of first summer signing: Major update lands as €35m deal looking good
Florian Wirtz: Leverkusen star is making a MISTAKE by not waiting for Real Madrid
Mbappe already better than Ronaldo: Real Madrid superstar smashes 70-year-old record
Garnacho in Chelsea’s sights as ‘next transfer priority’ revealed
Chelsea aim to build £1 BILLION football team as new investor joins
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