The Aggregate: Why Liverpool Need Jeremie Frimpong to Step Back in Time
Liverpool have signed Bayer Leverkusen wing-back Jeremie Frimpong. His right-back data gives a better idea as to why the Reds made the move.
This article was first published on May 14. As Frimpong was confirmed as a Liverpool player on May 30, the paywall was taken off that day. Welcome to Liverpool, Jeremie.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong is being heavily linked with a move to Liverpool this summer. He’s 24, Dutch and has a release clause in his contract. If he’s not ticking boxes in Richard Hughes’ recruitment office, nobody is.
The right-back market is not strong at present either. Nineteen-year-old midfielder Archie Gray is the joint-eighth highest valued player in the position according to Transfermarkt, which says everything about who is out there.
Frimpong makes for a fascinating option as we continue to figure out how the Reds will replace in The Aggregate what they lose through Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure.
The Bayer man is in the bottom three per cent of full-backs in the big five leagues for progressive passes over the past year, which is a key metric towards recreating the influence of number 66. It’s an immediate red flag.
As Opta Analyst recently noted, Frimpong is “far more wing than back, as you can see from his heat map below.” Even so, he only moves up to the sixth percentile for progressive passing among attacking midfielders and wingers. It hasn’t been part of his game under Xabi Alonso when it may be vital for Arne Slot.
An important factor which often gets forgotten when looking at player statistics is that they merely illustrate what someone has done, not what they can do.
Josh Williams has written on Distance Covered this week that he could picture Frimpong as a full-back in the tweaked tactical set up Slot deployed against Arsenal. This is indirectly a vital consideration in our search too; we think we know Slot’s Liverpool, but we don’t really. It’s far too early.
Give the Reds’ head coach a full pre-season plus a few players signed to his requirements to see what unfolds. The chances are he cooks up a masterpiece.
Jürgen Klopp used several formations as he experimented in 2015/16, then largely stuck to a 4-3-3 system thereafter. He signed Sadio Mané to add pace to the attack in his first summer, immediately making the team better. Maybe Slot is working along similar lines with Frimpong? Because make no mistake, he can fly.
The following graph from Scouted’s article on full-back archetypes hammers this point so far into the ground you’ll need a shovel if you want to retrieve it. Should you need further evidence, their study is soaked in it.
Simpler metrics tell the same tale. Bundesliga statistics peg Frimpong’s top speed at 36.34 kilometres per hour this season, with his 1,021 sprints the leading mark in Germany.
While physical data is not readily available for the Premier League, bear in mind that Raphinha led the division with 877 sprints three years ago. Frimpong’s top speed also puts him behind just three players in England according to figures shared by Sky Sports in November.
None of them play for Liverpool. The Bayer wing-back has been further ahead of Luis Díaz, the Reds’ fastest man, than the Colombian has been ahead of his ninth quickest colleague. It’s a chasm which Frimpong can sprint across without falling to the ground, unlike Road Runner.
Speed buys you a lot on a football pitch. It doesn’t change that this reported target feels unlike a suitable replacement for Alexander-Arnold though.
We need to look further back into history with Frimpong to make a more credible case. He’s hard to contextualise with recent stats as he’ll play differently should he end up at Liverpool. It seems certain that the Manchester City youth product has played fewer than 600 Bundesliga minutes as a conventional right-back under his current manager, as much as data sources vary slightly.
Before Alonso took charge at the BayArena, Frimpong played in a back four under Gerardo Seoane far more often. The Leverkusen defender averaged 3.6 progressive passes per 90 minutes across his first 18 months in the Bundesliga, essentially the same as Conor Bradley’s mark over the last 365 days (3.7).
Comparing the latter’s FBRef radar for this period with Frimpong’s from 2021/22 immediately reveals further similarities between the pair. If Slot likes how Bradley plays but would prefer an even quicker version, a Mr. J Frimpong of Leverkusen, Germany looks ideal. The Liverpool boss just needs the pre-Alonso, back four version in this scenario, not the wing-back.
A comparison of this duo with Alexander-Arnold shows they’re made for each other rather than for replacing the departing Liverpool defender. To keep the sample sizes broadly similar, we have Trent’s 2024/25 campaign against Bradley’s career and Frimpong’s games at right-back for Leverkusen.
You can’t replace Alexander-Arnold, so why try? Having two options who should deliver a similar level of performance will make it easier to switch between the two without need for many tactical adjustments. Variety is not as important as a solidly consistent level of production here.
Frimpong has represented Netherlands at under-19, under-21 and senior level with Ryan Gravenberch, earning further first team caps with Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk. He started with the latter pair in a 4-0 win against Scotland in which he was directly up against Andy Robertson.
If Slot or Hughes need a character reference or an opponent point of view, they’re not short of options. Frimpong’s historic data and physical power do a decent amount of talking for him too.
I found it fascinating that the right-back version of Frimpong was essentially Bradley according to the data. But does this make a deal more likely or less likely?!
I broadly agree. It's similar to the situation with Ryan, whom everyone had pegged as an 8 who COULDN'T POSSIBLY play the 6... I'm more interested in those physical attributes of Frimpong that you cite and, even if he does play more as a wingback, who says that Arne can't adapt to that system if he thinks it really works? The only hang-up in that respect is that he's clearly told Mo that he's largely without defensive responsibilities and we can't have two guys on the right side in that mode. We already had one before, which was usually Trent, as Hendo was there to cover for him when he moved forward (and which contributes to the "Trent can't defend-!" memes) but two is non-functional. I don't want to detract from Mo's newfound freedom so there would have to be something else involved unless, as you say, Frimpong switches back to playing a more traditional fullback role.