With Jeremie Frimpong yet to get going almost six months after becoming Liverpool’s first signing of a record summer, perhaps it is time to ask the question: what is the plan?
Due to the amount of money spent, there was always going to be significant pressure on Liverpool’s summer signings to instantly hit the ground running. In the world of reality, new players always need adaptation periods, especially at a club as high-profile as Liverpool and a competition as physically intense as the Premier League.
Nevertheless, there remain justifiable questions about the role – in the short and long-term – of Dutch international Jeremie Frimpong.
Replacing Trent – with a completely different player
The first signing of Arne Slot‘s £446 million summer rebuild, there was understandable hype about the arrival of the 24-year-old from Bayer Leverkusen.
Here was an exciting, offensive right-sided defender who had been an integral part of the impressive Xabi Alonso side that won the Bundesliga for the first time.
On paper, he was the plug-and-play replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold. Yes, a different type of right-back, but a quality player with top-level experience.
His output of 29 goals and 44 assists in Germany was remarkable. Plus, it was never going to be possible to fully reinforce the unique attributes of Alexander-Arnold, so it indicated a chance for Slot to shape that area of the pitch in his own image.
Available for just £29.5 million, the move was a no-brainer. The optics of bringing in a new player as soon as Alexander-Arnold left were also a positive.
However, perhaps it was the desire to quickly get over losing Alexander-Arnold that led to many fans adopting a degree of cognitive dissonance regarding the reasonable questions about how Frimpong would actually fit in.
The former Man City youngster is a lot more than just a Trent rebound. Yet the fact remains that the best years of his career to date were not as a right-back.
In 142 appearances in all competitions from 2022 to 2025, he only played in that position 20 times (14.1 percent). He started as a right-back only five times in the two seasons before arriving at Anfield.
What made him one of the most sought-after right-sided players around was his impact in the attacking third as a right wing-back; blending superb crossing, fast runs in behind and an instinctive ability to break into the box at the back post.
His speed, endurance and aggressiveness arguably made him the best in the world in that role, alongside fellow countryman Denzel Dumfries. He also proved he could be effective as a right-sided forward in an attacking three.
Uncertainty over Liverpool’s vision
Based on Slot’s tactical brain and player management, as well as the hard work done by Liverpool’s scouting team, the assumption was that there would be a clear plan for Frimpong.
That may still come to fruition. Indeed, it is only November in his first season.
The early signs though suggest that, if there was a plan, it is still very much in the drafting stage.
Is Frimpong going to be gradually developed into the club’s long-term right-back? Is he viewed as a long-term replacement for Mohamed Salah? Or is he simply a very good squad player who can cover multiple roles?
One might further ask whether Slot and Co. even fully understood what they were getting when signing Frimpong. Did they go for a bargain deal without properly reading the product description?
Injuries and inconsistent starts
At this point, one can rightly point out that Frimpong has been injured too much to date for a proper answer to even be discussed. He has already missed seven of Liverpool’s 18 games in all competitions due to a hamstring injury, which has flared up twice.
This is in itself a concern – in his last three seasons with Leverkusen, Frimpong didn’t miss a single game due to injury. This could just be his body adjusting to the rigours of the Premier League or simply early misfortune.
Yet it is an early concern, especially due to the nature of the muscular issue, and it is preventing him from finding momentum and establishing himself.
As a player whose game is based for a large part on his athleticism, the hope is that this tough period is just a blip.
Therefore, if fans were to select a player to be their first-choice right-back right now, it would be Conor Bradley and not Frimpong who would get the nod.
At the start of the season, Frimpong started there in the Community Shield and the first league game against Bournemouth, but was substituted on the hour in the latter as Andoni Iraola’s began to exploit gaps behind the full-backs.
Since then, in all competitions he has only completed 90 minutes in the position once: in the Carabao Cup against Southampton.
In the five League games when available since then, Frimpong has been used only as a substitute on three occasions. Not only has Bradley been preferred in the role but Dominik Szoboszlai too.
Frimpong’s short-term role: Three options for Liverpool
Interestingly, the Netherlands international has started all of the three games in the Champions League in which he was available, two at right-back and one as the right winger in Slot’s preferred attacking midfield trio. Does Slot simply not yet trust Frimpong in the Premier League?
It is a small sample size but perhaps there are some shoots of clarity on his short-term role:
• A starting attacking right-back against teams that are likely to be more defensive and sit deep, such as against Atletico Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt.
• An offensive substitute to bring on at full-back when the team is faced with dropping points and in need of an extra dose of creative flair, like against Man United and Crystal Palace.
• Or, most intriguingly for the future, as the starting right-sided forward, as against Galatasaray.
In other words, right now Frimpong does not have one clear job description.
Furthermore, the aforementioned match against Galatasaray has maybe given an insight into Frimpong’s role over the coming months, especially when Liverpool will be without Salah due to the Africa Cup of Nations.
The AFCON solution
If he can fully recover from his latest injury, he could be a crucial player for Slot over the hectic winter period as they look to recover lost ground in the league, playing as that right-sided forward.
He would hug the touchline and look to cross more than Salah, and cut inside less, but this could inadvertently free up more room for Florian Wirtz. It would additionally offer a bit more defensive protection down the right flank.
At present, the calls from some to rest Salah have ignored the fact that Slot hasn’t had many alternatives other than Federico Chiesa, who has mainly been used as an impact substitute off the left or down the middle.
However, Frimpong does have experience in the position.
Of his eight starts for the Netherlands, six have been as the right winger for Ronald Koeman, with Frimpong particularly impressing there during this year’s two-legged UEFA Nations League quarter-final against Spain.
And whilst wing-backs are in theory required to defend as well as attack, he was very much given the remit to focus on the latter by Alonso down Leverkusen’s right-hand side, hence the high output in goals and assists.
Do Liverpool’s signings need a new system?
One extra argument would be for Slot to swallow his pride following recent struggles and experiment with a back three, with Frimpong playing in his most natural home as a right wing-back.
Theoretically, this shape would also provide an extra defender centrally to help Liverpool’s midfield pair, who have often looked stretched recently.
It could enable Frimpong to link up with Salah, with the latter playing as one of the two inside forwards, and get players closer to the often isolated centre-forward.
It might also liberate Milos Kerkez, who has looked uncertain defensively to date as a more conservative left-back.
However, to change a whole shape mid-season is very unlike Slot, notwithstanding the fact that the team is already short in central defence playing a two, let alone a three.
For now, this argument is realistically a non-starter, unless at least one new defender is signed in January.
For Frimpong to make a short-term impact, it will need to be within Slot’s pre-existing system.
Frimpong at Liverpool: The jury is out
If you’d said when Frimpong arrived that, come mid-November, he’d have no goals or assists bar the Community Shield, you’d probably have been laughed at.
Undoubtedly the jury is still out on his signing. For different reasons, it remains unclear what he was brought in for, or what the plan for the future is.
It may be that Frimpong can eventually nail down a specific job. Or he could just end up being a jack of many trades but a master of none.
If it is to be the latter, then Liverpool will still have a fantastic player on their hands – with room for further development – who can suit up and perform in different areas.
And that’s hardly a bad option to have, is it?
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