FlashFocus: Neglected by his nation, Jeremie Frimpong is one of the Bundesliga's best
The son of Ghanaian parents, Jeremie Agyekum Frimpong was born in Amsterdam on December 10th, 2000 and moved to Clayton, a Manchester suburb, when he was six. There, three years later, he was scouted by affluent Manchester City, where he played in the youth team for 10 years.
In September 2019, top Scottish club Celtic acquired him from the then-English champions, for whom he did not play a single game in the first team.
His professional debut followed soon after his move to Glasgow, on September 25th, 2019. Frimpong was in the starting lineup for the Scottish Cup game against Partick Thistle (a 5-0 win) and was named man of the match.
During the 2019/20 season, his first at Celtic, Frimpong won three prizes: the league title, the cup and the League Cup. He was far from being a first-team regular during that season but impressed so much in 23 appearances in all competitions that he was the following campaign.
Midway through the 2020-21 season, Bayer Leverkusen knocked on the door and paid €11 million for the services of the small, speedy winger. There, after an adjustment period, he had his big breakthrough.
His first full season in the German Bundesliga earned him 25 appearances, a goal and six assists.
Xabi Alonso
It was only when Xabi Alonso became his coach that Frimpong really took off. In the Spaniard's 3-4-3 system in his second full season at Leverkusen, he scored eight goals in 34 league games and provided seven assists.
He has since been voted into the Bundesliga team of the season for each of the last three campaigns, establishing himself as one of the league's best players.
In the historic 2023/24 season, he got nine goals and seven assists in 31 league games. That season, the club became unbeaten national champions, won the German Cup and lost the Europa League final to Atalanta.
This season, Frimpong has already hit the ground running with a goal and an assist in the first six league games, but he caused a stir in the Champions League in particular by providing three assists in the first two games.
He is now considered one of the best wingers in the world and is regularly linked with a transfer to the biggest and best clubs. In recent years, rumours of transfers to clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester United and a return to Manchester City have spread.
However, his international career is going a lot less well than his club career. Frimpong could have played for his parents' country, or the country where he received his childhood education, but chose the country he was born in.
Frimpong joined the Netherlands' under-19 side in 2018 and later played for the under-20s and under-21s before making his debut for the senior Dutch team a year ago, on October 13th, 2023.
An unused weapon
Despite the fact that then-national coach Louis van Gaal saw "a weapon" in him, the Amsterdam native did not play a minute during the 2022 World Cup. Van Gaal's successor Ronald Koeman then left Frimpong out of his squads because the winger did not want to go to the European Under-21s Championship with Jong Oranje.
During the last European Championship, Frimpong played three games for Oranje, two as a substitute and in the starting XI, as a right winger against France. Koeman preferred - and still prefers - Denzel Dumfries at right-back and uses the fact that Frimpong plays further forward at his club as one of the reasons for his choices.
Frimpong has played 106 Bundesliga games to date. In those, according to Transfermarkt, he was used as a right-wing back on 41 occasions and played 61 times as a right midfielder. By comparison, at Inter Milan in Serie A, Dumfries plays almost exclusively as a right midfielder.
Koeman further feels Frimpong is not good enough defensively, although he is holding his own in the Bundesliga.
It seems as if Koeman has a clear favourite for the right-back position in Dumfries, although Dumfries has only played 90 minutes twice for his club in Serie A this calendar year.
Other players are also preferred on the right wing, the position Frimpong played during his only start at the Euros. Before Koeman decided to use Xavi Simons in that spot, players like Donyell Malen and the hopelessly out-of-form Steven Bergwijn were given chances while Frimpong had to sit on the bench.
What is clear is that Frimpong is at a disadvantage with the current Oranje coach which begs the question as to whether Frimpong will regret his choice to play for the Netherlands.
It also became clear during the past international period that Koeman sees no more in Frimpong than a substitute. Against Hungary, the winger remained on the bench and against Germany, the country where he has been causing a furore week in and week out, he was allowed to play for just under half an hour.
Not only was it an unsuccessful international period for Frimpong, but the Dutch team only took a point against Hungary (1-1, Dumfries' goal) and never had a chance against a merciful Germany (1-0). Perhaps it is time for some change at Oranje after all.