Manchester United remain keen on Bayer Leverkusen flyer Jeremie Frimpong but one German football expert has concerns about whether the £35 million right-back could replicate his stunning Bundesliga form in the Premier League.
Well, we call him a ‘right-back’. Now into double figures for both goals and assists – with 10 apiece – Jeremie Frimpong is not so much your classic full-back as more of a bonafide forward in Xabi Alonso’s 3-4-2-1 system, given almost unprecedented license to push on and make use of his searing pace and his highly-impressive end-product.
Manchester United held talks with the one-time Man City whizzkid last summer and remain interest 12 months on, per Fabrizio Romano.
But, with Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso almost constructing his gameplan around the flying qualities of Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo on the opposite flank, would the Dutchman be quite so influential slotting into a different, perhaps less-tailored system?
Manchester United keen on Jeremie Frimpong
“The pair of them have been so, so, so instrumental,” explains Stefan Bienkowski, co-host of the Gegenpressing football podcast, Frimpong and Grimaldo both finding the net in the 2-0 derby win over Koln last weekend.
“They’re not full-backs. They are wing-backs or – at the very least – full-blown wingers. They are two players playing in a system that Xabi Alonso has (created) to get the best out of them.
“I suspect that, if or when Frimpong or Grimaldo move on, I don’t think they will be able to replicate what they have done with Leverkusen this season because they are such specialised players in a specialised system.
“I don’t think you could just put Frimpong in at right-back for Man United and expect him to do the same thing. It’s a tailor-made system with tailor-made players.”
10 goals and 10 assists this season
Frimpong, who has a £35 million release clause in his contract, may be the one player Leverkusen expect to lose this summer, Gegenpressing’s Manuel Veth adds, with a readymade replacement already in place in former Southampton talisman Nathan Tella.
Frimpong’s potential arrival at Old Trafford would likely pave the way for Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s departure. With Diogo Dalot now one of United’s most important players, the more defensively-minded Wan-Bissaka could be sacrificed for a swashbuckling, attack-minded player better suited to a team of United’s ambitions.
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