Raised in Manchester, joining Liverpool – meet fun-loving Frimpong

“You only live once, so while we’re on this earth, just have fun, love others and just give it positive energy – and then life’s good,” says Jeremie Frimpong.

Life is never dull when the Dutchman, who has completed a £29.5m move to Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen, is around.

From entertaining goal celebrations, which include getting team-mates to shine his boots, to amusing post-match television interviews, right-sided defender Frimpong is all about fun.

“I like the pink by the way,” he told German football expert Archie Rhind-Tutt, who was wearing a pink jacket, in one live post-match television interview. “Very nice!”

“Often in football it becomes so serious that player interviews can be a bit dull,” former Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger tells BBC Sport.

“Frimpong hasn’t lost any of that freshness, that sense of ‘I am enjoying what I am doing here’. He is different and he has such a refreshing tone.”

Another goal celebration with Leverkusen team-mate Amine Adli went viral on social media after Frimpong celebrated with a smoking gesture, just two days after Germany partly decriminalised marijuana use.

But don’t be fooled by Frimpong’s playful manner.

Liverpool are investing in a serious talent, who started out in Manchester City’s academy system, showed promise at Celtic before making a name for himself with Bayer Leverkusen.

After four years in Germany, Frimpong is returning to England after helping Xabi Alonso’s side break Bayern Munich’s dominance and deliver a memorable league and cup double in 2023-24.

Frimpong was born in Amsterdam – the fifth child of seven – although he has spent the majority of his life in Britain.

He was seven when he arrived in England with his family and grew up in the east Manchester suburb of Clayton, playing for AFC Clayton on Saturday mornings before turning out for Clayton Villa a few hours later.

Aged nine, he was scouted by Manchester City and placed in their academy, where he crossed paths with Jadon Sancho in the under-18s before the latter moved to Borussia Dortmund in 2017.

Frimpong went on to play for City’s under-23s, played in the EFL Trophy at places like Rochdale, Crewe and Barnsley, and made appearances in the Uefa Youth League.

But by the age of 18, he left City for Celtic in 2019 without playing a single minute of senior football.

Celtic, who paid City £300,000, originally bought Frimpong to provide cover but within three months he played – and was sent off – in the Scottish League Cup final against Rangers, who were managed by former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.

Frimpong recovered from that red card to become a trusted member of the team, and just over a year later he signed for Leverkusen in a deal worth around £10m.

“I’ve never seen a better kid than him,” said Neil Lennon, his manager at Celtic.

“The quality of his play, the pace of his play, the end product.”

Former Celtic forward Sutton highlights Frimpong’s electric pace as he adds: “He was only at Celtic for a season or two and when he arrived you worried about him size-wise, but he gave the team such an attacking thrust.

The arrival of Frimpong at Liverpool is intended to help soften the blow of losing Trent Alexander-Arnold, who will become a Real Madrid player on Sunday.

According to his numbers, the 24-year-old is arriving at Anfield with serious potential.

Frimpong was one of the strongest runners in the Bundesliga in 2024-25, making 1,021 sprints, 2,116 intensive runs, registered a maximum speed of 36.34 km/h, and covered a distance of 259.6km over 33 games.

He is also versatile.

In his final appearance of the season, a 4-2 home defeat by Borussia Dortmund on 11 May, he played as a midfielder and scored. It was Frimpong’s 23rd goal in 133 Bundesliga matches.

“What I find phenomenal is his speed when he is standing still and those kind of first few steps,” adds Hitzlsperger.

“That’s what he’s got and he loves going forward. So he is equipped to be a wing-back.

“Defensively he is still a very good player but he is not your typical right-back that you see playing for teams like Inter Milan who might defend for 90 minutes.

“Of course there is a lack of height with him. But with his pace, drive and determination to set goals up, to get to the byeline and pull balls back, then wing-back is probably his best position.”

Will Frimpong make an instant impact in the Premier League?

With Netherlands team-mates Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch in the Liverpool dressing room, he will be surrounded by familiar faces as he looks to settle quickly.

“People are talking about Conor Bradley being Liverpool’s first-choice right-back next season and I get that, but you need fierce competition and Frimpong would provide that,” adds Sutton.

Frimpong used the Bundesliga’s 2024-25 winter break to visit Ghana, his parents’ homeland, for the first time.

“It was English that was spoken in the house when I was growing up – that and the Ghanaian language called Twi,” he said.

“My mum would normally speak that to me, but my brothers and sisters all speak English. I’m still working on my Dutch.”

While in Ghana, Frimpong visited an orphanage in the capital Accra and was moved by what he saw.

“I bought them food, we sat together and I asked lots of them what they would like to be,” he added.

“The small children there didn’t know me at all but they came straight to me and wanted me to take their hands. They showed me so much warmth.

“In spite of their situation and the whole environment, they were so full of joy. They smiled and we just played football and were happy.”