Liverpool sign Jeremie Frimpong as Trent Alexander-Arnold replacement after £109m Florian Wirtz bid | OneFootball

Dutch right-back will hope to be joined at Anfield by his former Bayer Leverkusen team-mate this summer

Liverpool have officially announced the signing of Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen.

“It went quite easy,” Frimpong told Liverpool’s 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.’

“Liverpool fans, I’m going to give my all, my energy, my work-rate and hopefully we can win together, we celebrate together, get everything together.

“I’m just excited to be here. Thank you guys for accepting me and I won’t let you guys down and I’ll give you the energy that you guys want.”

New threads: Frimpong’s Liverpool squad number will be announced later in the summer

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The versatile Frimpong can also play on the wing and excelled during four-and-a-half years at Leverkusen, scoring 30 goals and laying on 44 assists in 190 total appearances across all competitions as a key member of the side who came so close to securing a memorable trophy treble under Xabi Alonso last season, winning both the Bundesliga title and the German Cup before losing to Atalanta in the Europa League final.

The 24-year-old initially graduated through Manchester City’s youth academy but left in 2019 without making a senior appearance, spending two years at Celtic and winning a domestic treble in Scotland.

Frimpong was born in Amsterdam and represents the Netherlands at international level, earning 12 senior caps for the Oranje so far and going to both Euro 2024 and the 2022 World Cup.

“I spoke to the manager [Arne Slot] a few times,” added Frimpong, whose Liverpool squad number will be confirmed later in the summer. “He sounds very positive. He says I can bring a lot of energy and my qualities, my speed.

“Especially when a manager is talking positively about you, it gives you very good confidence that he believes in you. I’ve had good conversations with him.

“I’m really excited [to work with Arne Slot]. Even when I was at [the] national team, some of the Feyenoord boys would tell me about him and be like, ‘He’s the best coach I’ve ever had.’ Things like this.

Next signing? Liverpool will hope to reunite Frimpong with his Bayer Leverkusen team-mate Florian Wirtz

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“So, I’ve always heard good things about the coach. Now he’s going to be my coach, so I’m excited for that.”

Frimpong is technically the second planned arrival of what is already a hugely busy summer on the transfer front for Liverpool, who are also pushing to complete a separate deal with Leverkusen that would see them beat the likes of Bayern Munich and Manchester City to the signing of highly-rated German forward Florian Wirtz.

Reports emerged on Friday that Liverpool have now tabled an improved second offer for Wirtz worth up to €130m (£109.4m), comprised of a fixed fee and potential add-ons.

The Reds are also believed to be in talks with Bournemouth over a deal for Hungarian left-back Milos Kerkez as a successor to Andy Robertson, while this week they have also been strongly linked with Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, along with Chelsea.

Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili will also move to Liverpool this summer as part of a £29m transfer agreed with Valencia last year.

Losing both Frimpong and Wirtz in the same summer would be a huge blow for Leverkusen, who, after relinquishing their Bundesliga crown to Bayern this season, have already lost manager Alonso to Real Madrid following Carlo Ancelotti’s move to Brazil, hiring former Manchester United and Ajax boss Erik ten Hag as his replacement.