By John Boston
Liverpool completed the signing of Bayer Leverkusen right-back Jeremie Frimpong on Friday soon after confirming that they had reached an agreement with Real Madrid for the early departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Dutch international Frimpong, who joined for a fee of £29.5 million after the Reds triggered his release clause, has signed a five-year deal and will provide competition for Conor Bradley in the Liverpool back four.
The 24-year-old started his career in the Manchester City youth team and also spent time at Celtic before heading to the Bundesliga.
He played a key role in Leverksuen’s 2023-2024 title-winning campaign, and was equally as influential last season, making 53 appearances in all competitions, but he admitted he had no hesitation in heading to Anfield when Slot came calling.
‘Just get this done’
He told the LFC official website: “Liverpool came and said they had interest, and obviously for me it was a no-brainer.
“For me, it was like, ‘Whatever you guys do, just get this done’, [speaking to] my agents: ‘Just get this done.’ It went quite smoothly, there were no problems.”
Frimpong has already played at Anfield as he was part of the Leverkusen side that was thumped 4-0 by the Reds in the Champions League in November – and he admitted that chastening experience played a role in persuading him to make the switch to Merseyside.
He added: “For me, playing against Liverpool when I was in Leverkusen was really difficult. Really, really difficult.
“Obviously Leverkusen were still good but you can see that Liverpool is next level.”
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Trent heads to Madrid
Earlier on Friday, Liverpool also confirmed the long-expected news that Alexander-Arnold will officially become a Real Madrid player on June 1 after the Spanish side agreed to pay a reported fee of 10 million euros to release him early from his contract.
The England right-back would have been able to leave on a free transfer on June 30, but his early departure means he will be able to represent Real in the forthcoming Club World Cup in the United States.
He has reportedly signed a six-year deal at the Bernabeu, with a 1 billion euro buy-out clause inserted into his contract.
Reds close in on Wirtz
In what promises to be a busy summer of transfer activity for Slot, it was also reported on Friday that the Reds have stepped up their pursuit of Frimpong’s former Leverkusen team-mate Florian Wirtz.
Slot is in pole position to sign the highly-rated midfielder after Bayern Munich admitted defeat in their bid to sign the 22-year-old.
The Dutchman is now waiting to see whether a reported bid of £109 million will be enough to persuade Leverkusen to sell one of their prized assets.
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