Liverpool have signed Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, the Premier League champions confirmed on Friday.
Frimpong, a Netherlands international who has emerged as one of the world’s most exciting full-backs, had a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave for €35 million ($39.2m), a source told ESPN.
The move is set to be completed after the transfer window opens on June 1, with the fee to be paid in three separate annual instalments.
The deal was announced hours after Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s early exit to Real Madrid was confirmed.
Alexander-Arnold, whose contract was expiring at the end of June, is joining the LaLiga side for the Club World Cup, with a source telling ESPN a €10m ($11.3m) deal was agreed.
While Frimpong has widely been viewed externally as a replacement for the departing Alexander-Arnold, a source has told ESPN that Slot views the player as a versatile option on the right flank, with the player capable of deputising for Mohamed Salah when he participates in the African Cup of Nations which will take place in Morocco this winter.
Frimpong has long been linked with a move to the Premier League, and Liverpool have been tracking the 24-year-old for more than a decade. The club even made an attempt to recruit him to their academy before he joined Manchester City.
Frimpong was a youth player at Manchester City for nine years before joining Celtic and then Leverkusen, meaning he qualifies as a home-grown player in England.
He also has Liverpool ties, through Dutch coach Arne Slot and international teammates Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk.
Frimpong was a key part of the most successful period in Leverkusen’s history, starring in the club’s unbeaten march to a maiden Bundesliga title and DFB-Pokal last year. The club also reached the final of the Europa League, where they lost to Atalanta.
This season, Leverkusen finished in second place, well behind champions Bayern Munich. Xabi Alonso has departed to join Real Madrid, and star players such as Frimpong may also depart.
Information from ESPN’s Beth Lindop was used in this report.
