Jeremie Frimpong
Liverpool, 2025-
When Liverpool signed Jeremie Frimpong in the summer of 2025, it could be said that it marked the end of a 15-year pursuit. At the age of 24, he had arrived from Bayer Leverkusen having won league titles in Germany and Scotland, as well as becoming a Dutch international. Yet he had wanted to join Liverpool’s academy when they showed interest in him at the age of just nine. At that time, living in a Manchester suburb and with no one to drive him to Merseyside, he opted for Manchester City. Not that City was an easy option. His mum, Bernice, still had to take three buses between two cleaning jobs just to get her son to training on time. And so the journey to wearing Liverpool red proved to be a long, but ultimately successful one.
Born in Amsterdam in 2000, Frimpong moved to Manchester with his family at the age of six. He progressed through Manchester City’s academy up to the Under-21s, before signing for Celtic in 2019. In 51 games across two Covid-hit seasons in Scotland, he won a domestic treble under the management of Neil Lennon. “I watched Jeremie play in a bounce game at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training ground, and saw a lot of potential,” said Lennon in his Coaches’ Voice long read. “He was fabulous for me… and then he was off to Leverkusen.”
After a bedding in period, Xabi Alonso’s arrival in 2022 as Leverkusen head-coach supercharged the club’s and Frimpong’s performances. A domestic double was secured in 2023/24, including a European record 51 games unbeaten in all competitions and an unbeaten Bundesliga campaign. Early in that season Frimpong made his international debut for the Netherlands, ending the year with several cameo appearances at Euro 2024.
Now at Liverpool, he will want to play more than a bit-part role having finally arrived at Anfield. Following the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid, the opportunity is there for Frimpong to make his mark under the management of Arne Slot. Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have analysed his game.
Technical analysis
Jeremie Frimpong is a right-footed defender who has played as a right-back and an attacking right wing-back. His crossing is a standout strength and he can fly forward from deeper positions to create attacking width, especially on counter-attacks.
In the 2022/23 Bundesliga season he ranked 13th for total crosses, rising to fourth for the same metric in 2023/24, then second in 2024/25. The majority of his assists and chance creation have come from early deliveries. These he can bend around his direct opponent with a superb, low delivery, often closer to the ground than a traditional whipped cross (below). In doing so, he often picks out the central spaces for a runner to attack as they move across goal. His ability to provide pace on these crosses is key; doing so while on the move, as a particularly quick and explosive athlete.
He varies his deliveries when needed, including aerial crosses, cut-backs to the edge of the box and crosses stood up to the far post. He can lure opponents towards the ball, then – as when they try to stop an early delivery – accelerate away, giving time to decide on his next action.
Similar to a winger, he combines agile dribbling with powerful crossing, using his explosive pace to burst away from markers. As a result, he ranked in the top 20 for total dribbles in the last three Bundesliga seasons – 16th in 2024/25, 10th in 2023/24 and second in 2022/23. Many of these dribbles were in, or entering, the final third, beating his direct opponent with a change of pace from a relatively static start. He tends to keep the ball on the outside of his right foot, remaining low, to then explosively knock and run.
His instinctive movement is often to run away from an in-possession teammate, looking to receive while running forward. But he can also drop short to help progress the ball from deep via carries, pulling a defender away from the opposition’s back line (below). He can then progress the ball into the final third, using his 1v1 attributes to beat his opponent as he carries the ball forward. His preference with his movement off the ball can lead to securing through balls or longer balls in behind, sometimes after starting deeper to lure his opponent out.
As a wing-back Frimpong has been involved in high pressing. He is aggressive and covers ground quickly, limiting early forward play. He is also intelligent in forcing the ball into specific areas or directions, often curving his press into traps, supported by teammates. Defending the wide areas has mostly involved him pressing from in to out (below). As a wing-back he is then supported by the wide centre-back covering on the outside, with the central midfield on the inside.
As a full-back he has worked similarly, but in much deeper positions. There, opposing teams have targeted him with long balls and diagonal aerial passes across the pitch. At 5ft 8in tall, he has rarely dominated aerial duels, so he has often picked his battles, particularly against imposing, taller attackers. However, he has been tenacious enough to limit such opponents from turning, aggressively covering and protecting from behind.
His overall defensive work rate is very high, while he is a willing runner back to his own goal. When recovering from a higher starting position – often as a wing-back – his tenacious sprinting has supported the back line. He has also recognised when to recover centrally and disrupt the opponent on the ball. But whether recovering back or with his overall duelling, he could have been more disruptive to opponents, especially considering how hard he worked to get in those positions. When he doesn’t win the ball cleanly – approximately 50 per cent of his duels at time of writing – he could impact opponents more by prodding and poking at the ball. That can help teammates regain possession on second or loose balls.
Right wing-back
Xabi Alonso mostly played Frimpong in a right wing-back role, in 3-4-3 and 3-2-4-1 structures. There, the Dutchman provided width on the right, often taking up very high positions to attack the opposing full-back or wing-back. His consistent and impactful 1v1 dribbling allowed Leverkusen’s number 10s to reposition and become extra forwards in and around the penalty area.
His crosses, meanwhile, added to Leverkusen’s attacking play. As well as low, bending balls into the centre-forwards – Patrik Schick and Victor Boniface – he was a regular source of cut-backs. These were ideal when Alonso deployed a 3-2-4-1 and two number 10s, with the likes of Florian Wirtz, Nathan Tella and Emiliano Buendía supported by runs from midfield.
Frimpong made regular runs forward to receive himself, bending his movements in behind – and with an explosiveness on transitions. His movements in-behind helped the midfield connect into the forwards, with Granit Xhaka’s range of passing particularly useful in releasing Frimpong to attack beyond. As a wing-back he also attacked the back post when Leverkusen attacked on the opposite flank, getting goals from late, purposeful runs he made from wide right.
His movement disrupted the opposition by forcing them to drop. This created more room between the lines for Alonso’s midfield box to dominate the ball, in particular finding Wirtz in attacking spaces (below). From there, Frimpong could make a penetrative movement and supply a cross, or move slightly inside to support a central attack.
Without the ball, as a wing-back he defended as part of a back five, aggressively jumping out to deal with the wide areas. Under Alonso it wasn’t uncommon to see a wide centre-back press into midfield, with Frimpong covering on the outside shoulder to stop through balls.
His aggression also supported the number 10s with their central-press high up the pitch. If the ball was won, he would then be ready to attack from a dangerous position. In a lower block, he was solely responsible for the wide areas, forcing play outside and around. When the opposition attacked on Leverkusen’s left, he covered the inside shoulder of the midfielder furthest from the play, again ready for any attacking transitions.
Right-back
Prior to Alonso taking over at Leverkusen, Swiss coach Gerardo Seoane played Frimpong as a right-back, usually in a 4-2-3-1. Instead of starting higher in the attack, Frimpong supported from deep, providing overlapping and underlapping runs, either side of his winger. He was still very strong when dribbling and attacking 1v1, though. That meant Leverkusen’s right winger – Moussa Diaby or Karim Bellarabi – could move inside earlier and become another central attacker. This winger could then work much closer to the nine and 10 pairing of Schick and Wirtz, especially against a low block.
Frimpong’s crossing was also evident as a right-back, albeit he had to cover more distance to get involved, having started deeper. He still had plenty of options to pick out, especially when the other full-back advanced. Both wide players could then attack inside, while the double pivot covered and supported underneath (below).
Under Seoane, Leverkusen’s wide players looked to combine inside as often as possible. When they connected with the double pivot, creating periods of sustained possession, Frimpong could move forward much earlier and impact the opposing back line. Although not as high as under Alonso, Frimpong’s adapted position, as a right-back out of the back four, also involved more combinations inside. He linked well with Diaby, who wanted to dribble and combine. With Frimpong receiving deeper as a full-back with space ahead, the duo created quick, incisive passing combinations. Between them, they passed and moved with an explosiveness that aided progression up the pitch.
Naturally, Frimpong spent more time defending deeper as a right-back in a back four, than as a wing-back in a 3-4-3. His agility and speed when changing direction, as well as ability to shift his bodyweight, helped in 1v1s against tricky wingers – especially those who like to shift and shoot or cross. Where possible he pressed from in to out, showing his opponent the line, matching his runner and forcing play away from goal. However, when opponents cut back inside and shifted against his individual press, he did struggle to contain or disrupt them. That is something he will need to improve, if he reverts to a full-back role at Liverpool.
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