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Liverpool have been excellent at picking up talented local youngsters and turning them into first-team players of late.
The Reds have seen the likes of Cutis Jones, Jarell Quansah and Jayden Danns rise through the ranks in the Liverpool academy before breaking into the senior team.
Before that trio – and others of a similar ilk – the most famous player to arrive as a very young child and make it all the way through to the Liverpool first-team was Trent Alexander-Arnold.
After 20 years at Anfield, though, Alexander-Arnold looks set to leave for a fresh challenge this summer.
One of the players linked with filling the Scouser’s shoes has been Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong.
And as Liverpool continue to be linked with Frimpong, the 24-year-old has revealed that he has actually turned down the chance to join the Reds already.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Frimpong has been excellent for Bayer Leverkusen since joining in 2021 and has gone up several levels under the tutelage of Xabi Alonso.
The Netherlands international has had an interesting path to becoming a starter for one of the best teams in Europe, leaving the Man City academy to join Celtic and then Leverkusen.
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Speaking to Rising Ballers, though, Frimpong has revealed that had things been ever so slightly different, he would have started on his path at the Liverpool academy.
“One time with AFC Clayton we had a final and I was playing striker,” the right-back recalled.
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“My brother was like ‘there’s going to be scouts here, so you’ve got to show.’ I had that in my head, and I scored a hat-trick in the final and won player of the tournament.
There were scouts there from Liverpool, Bolton, Man City and a lot more.”
“I chose Liverpool first and I was going to sign for them but back then driving wasn’t a thing,” he says.
“My family weren’t driving and it was far.
Man City were local, so I tried Man City next and it made more sense, it was 15 minutes on the bus, so yeah.”
It is sad to hear that logistical issues were the only thing preventing Frimpong from moving to Liverpool.
He joined the City academy in 2010 and would have ultimately come through alongside the likes of Jones and Neco Williams with the Reds.
While there’s no guarantee that Frimpong would have made it to the first-team, his clear quality means that he would certainly have had a shot.
Nevertheless, 15 years on, there remains a chance that his dream Liverpool move could yet come true.
Frimpong’s agent was reportedly invited to Anfield at the end of last year as the Reds continue to evaluate a potential replacement for Alexander-Arnold.
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