“Moving In The Right Direction.” – Paul Gorst On Liverpool Move For Bundesliga Winner | OneFootball

Anfield’s party atmosphere was soured somewhat last weekend as Liverpool returned home for the first time since sealing the Premier League title.

The media spotlight was firmly fixed on Trent Alexander-Arnold, who took to the field for the first time since announcing he will be leaving the club on a free transfer at the end of the season.

The vice-captain was booed repeatedly by sections of the home faithful, which seemed to cause a distraction for the players who lost a two-goal lead against Arsenal.

Fans may not have to wait long for a replacement, however, with reports emerging from Germany that the Reds are in advanced discussions with Bayer Leverkusen wing-back Jeremie Frimpong.

The 24-year-old Dutchman has a release clause of just under £30 million and is said to be keen on a move to Merseyside.

On the latest episode of our Journo Insight show, we asked the Liverpool Echo’s LFC correspondent, Paul Gorst, for his thoughts on the Frimpong deal.

“HE ONLY HAS ONE SETTING” – SCOTTISH FOOTBALL EXPERT ON LIVERPOOL LINKED JEREMIE FRIMPONG

Paul said:

“Liverpool have obviously been assessing the market. While they are in talks with Jeremy Frimpong’s representatives and Bayer Leverkusen at the moment, I think obviously the existence of a release clause makes things a lot smoother.

“For the price range, for the age, the quality of the player – a lot of it ticks Liverpool’s boxes. And like we say, they are now looking to make further inroads and bring him to the club.

“David Ornstein reported that the player would jump at the chance to move to Liverpool, so that tells me that that’s coming from the player’s camp.

“It’s not silly money for the club of Liverpool’s stature. So yeah, I think they’ve been quite relaxed with it and are progressing now with the deal.

“Leverkusen – it seems like they are keen to resolve the situation quickly… if Frimpong is on the way, then I think they would like it to be concluded sooner rather than later.

“It all seems to be moving in the right direction. And we know that when Liverpool kick into gear, they do tend to move quite quickly.

“I think we should have some really interesting news on this. Maybe this time next week we’re talking about him as a Liverpool player.”

REDMEN REACTS

Trent who?! After a year of near-constant contract speculation followed by the vice-captain’s announcement and a week of boo-scrutiny (boo-tiny?), the news that a potential successor appears to be close to signing will come as a welcome tonic for Liverpool fans. Replacing a talent as singular as Alexander-Arnold was always going to be an impossible task, but the addition of a player with the skillset of Jeremie Frimpong offers an exciting future for the Reds, especially given the impressive performances of Conor Bradley over the last 18 months. A cautionary note should be struck, seeing as Frimpong has played relatively infrequently as a right-back in a traditional back four, but confidence should be drawn from the way Arne Slot slightly adjusted the position of fellow Dutchman Ryan Gravenberch to superb effect this season. Hopefully, Arne will be welcoming a new recruit to his Dutch army sooner rather than later.