One Bundesliga star who’s been linked with Liverpool in recent months has revealed that he wanted to sign for the Reds as a youngster, only for logistical concerns to lead him in a different direction.
In December, German transfer expert Christian Falk reported of the Merseyside giants’ interest in Jeremie Frimpong, whose agent was invited to Anfield when we faced his Bayer Leverkusen side in the Champions League a few weeks previously.
The livewire full-back is set to be the subject of considerable speculation again this year, but he’s now shared just how close he came to signing for LFC in his childhood.
Frimpong had wanted to join Liverpool as a child
The Netherlands international spoke in-depth about his career in a feature for Rising Ballers, and he recounted how a standout performance at a grassroots tournament drew the attention of scouts from Liverpool and a few other prominent clubs from the northwest of England.
Despite the Reds being Frimpong’s first choice, his inability to commute to and from his family home in Manchester forced him to remain local.
The 24-year-old said: “There were scouts there like Liverpool, Bolton, Man City and a lot more. I chose Liverpool first. I was going to sign for them but back then, driving wasn’t a thing. My family wasn’t driving and it was far.
“Obviously Man City was local so I tried Man City next, and then it made more sense. It was 15 minutes on the bus, so yeah.”
Could Frimpong end up at Liverpool yet?
Whereas fate ultimately led Cody Gakpo to signing for Liverpool just over two years ago, it conspired against his Netherlands teammate joining the Reds’ academy as a child.
Frimpong never earned a first-team appearance for Man City but he made a name for himself at Celtic before shooting to Europe-wide prominence at Leverkusen, with whom he won an unbeaten domestic double under Xabi Alonso last season.
He has a €40m (£34m) release clause in his contract and was described by former Oranje head coach Louis van Gaal as a potential ‘weapon‘ for the national team, although the ex-Manchester United boss didn’t actually use him at the 2022 World Cup despite having him in the squad in Qatar.
The 24-year-old’s output at the BayArena has been tremendous, with 27 goals and 41 assists from wing-back in 171 appearances for Die Werkself. As of yet, though, Liverpool needn’t feel overly rueful about him joining Man City’s academy rather than ours.
That’s because of a certain Trent Alexander-Arnold, who’s already surpassed 100 goal contributions for the Reds and has established himself as one of the world’s best right-backs.
The chance to play for LFC wasn’t meant to be for Frimpong in his childhood, but if our current vice-captain were to leave for Real Madrid in the next few months, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Dutchman being targeted as his replacement at Anfield.
