Liverpool could sign “monster” £34m Salah partner

But now, with Klopp gone, Arne Slot in, and Anfield’s very infrastructure dissembled and built back up brick by newly-created brick, Liverpool has a very different feel.

The Premier League heavyweights have much to sort out, and while it’s not a priority, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s positional developments could lead to a brand-new right-back arriving.

Liverpool transfer news
According to a report from Sport Bild this week, Liverpool are rivalling Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United for the signing of Jeremie Frimpong.

However, La Blaugrana, at this stage, are the only outfit to have made an offer for the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal champion, who has a €40m (£34m) release clause in his contract.

With Alexander-Arnold continuing to flirt with a future in midfield, Liverpool might look to accelerate their interest in the Netherlands star, especially if either player excels at the 2024 European Championship.

Why Jeremie Frimpong would impress for Slot
Slot’s system at Feyenoord involved full-backs playing important roles in transition, with his style of play far less reliant on long-passing. This could see Alexander-Arnold better suited in midfield, opening the door for Frimpong to cement a starring spot on the right.

The 23-year-old enjoyed an influential role in Leverkusen’s invincible domestic campaign, scoring 14 goals and supplying 12 assists as he surged up and down the wing. Rarely was he positioned at right-back, instead on the wing as the fifth member of a back-five.

Even then, Frimpong – who former Anfield hero Xabi Alonso described as a “special player” – was usually found in and around the final third.

Frimpong is playing a specific role to suit the system. Granted, it’s a system that has seen him skyrocket to the highest level of European football this season but, in turn, it’s a system that has benefitted Alonso’s plans greatly.

Does that mean the Dutchman would fall by the wayside in a back four? Certainly not. Alonso has gone to great lengths to meticulously craft the almost labyrinthine playing structure that has worked so illustriously well, with Frimpong and his alternate wingback, Alejandro Grimaldo, effectively featuring as midfielders.

After all, Frimpong might be one of the continent’s most fearsome attacking units from out wide but this is maximised through positional placement: as per FBref, he ranks among the top 1% of full-backs across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for touches in the attacking box, progressive passes received and progressive carries, and the top 4% for successful take-ons per 90.

But when we look at, say, the 2021/22 campaign, when Leverkusen finished third in the Bundesliga before the nosedive that precipitated Alonso’s transformational appointment, we can observe that Frimpong, who started that term aged 20, boasts adequate defensive skills, featuring in a more conventional role.

Jeremie Frimpong: Bundesliga 21/22 vs 23/24

Bundesliga Stats

21/22

23/24

Matches played

25

31

Matches started

25

27

Goals

1

9

Assists

6

7

Pass completion

82%

81%

Key passes

1.2

1.5

Tackles per game

1.3

0.8

Dribbles per game

1.9 (59%)

1.5 (50%)

Duels won per game

5.7 (58%)

3.9 (49%)

Stats via Sofascore

The exigencies of a rounded skill set in a division such as the Premier League would leave Frimpong found out had he not the gumption to perform his defensive duties and not get carried away by the eager waves of an elite attack.

But Slot has demonstrated his prowess with high-level wide players and has enjoyed great success with Lutsharel Geertruida at Feyenoord, another attack-centric wide player who is also on Liverpool’s shopping list.

Slot typically utilises a 4-2-3-1 formation and while Frimpong would need to reacclimatise to life in a more traditional role, he’s done it before and he would find that such a deployment forges a stunning partnership with Mohamed Salah.

Imagine Frimpong & Mohamed Salah
Salah received some measure of criticism last season for his downturn in form toward the end of last season, and while the rebuke was not unfounded, the Egyptian finished the campaign with 25 goals and 14 assists in all competitions.

Still, Salah, who turns 32 on Saturday, is not the same player that Klopp’s Liverpool paid £34m to sign from Roma in 2017. This is perhaps most clearly delineated through his gradual decline in movement and dribbling.

Mohamed Salah: Premier League Dribbling (LFC)

Season

Dribbling average

2023/24

0.8 (36%)

2022/23

1.3 (41%)

2021/22

1.5 (43%)

2020/21

1.0 (43%)

2019/20

1.5 (60%)

2018/19

2.1 (53%)

2017/18

2.2 (63%)

Stats via Sofascore

The decremental output in regard to ball-carrying is a by-product of the inexorable passage of time. But fear not Liverpool fans, Salah is still a world-class forward and has compensated for this by refining his playmaking ability.

Indeed, in his first, awe-inspiring Premier League campaign with the Reds, Salah only created 12 big chances; last year, he created the most big chances (22) in the division.

Further credence can be given to this in that Salah ranked among the top 14% of positional peers in the English top flight last season for progressive passes per 90. 2017/18? Salah ranked among the bottom 42% for the same metric.

So, why is this all relevant? Well, meshing the athletic talent of Frimpong with Salah’s sharpened offensive prowess would provide Slot with an interchangeable and dynamic right side, consequently allowing Alexander-Arnold to feature in the middle of the park with greater regularity.

Alexander-Arnold is the elephant in the room regarding this discussion, but he seems to be heading unavoidably toward the engine room, where his unparalleled ball-playing skills are believed to be best placed.

For Frimpong and Salah, though, this could be a partnership more than worthwhile. Salah would not lose his connection with Alexander-Arnold, who will still enjoy a to and froing of distribution with his long-time partner, but with the added dimension of Frimpong.

Frimpong has been described as “one of the best wing-backs in Europe” by talent scout Jacek Kulig and is blessed with the speed, style and final-third sharpness to provide Liverpool with a new, reshaped weapon on the right flank without losing Alexander-Arnold’s qualities.

For his part, Salah’s ever-improving ability as a high-class playmaker would allow Frimpong to drive forward at breakneck speed with channelled creative support from not one but two of Europe’s finest.

Liverpool vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold
Liverpool’s vice-captain would also likely occupy positions within covering distance of his right-back home, allowing Frimpong – who has been hailed as a “monster” in the final third by The United Stand’s Beth Tucker – to play with freedom.

It would be a finely wrought set-up that would take some skill from Slot to inculcate into the Anfield first team, but Liverpool have been one of the finest and most tactically impressive units in modern times and the players certainly have the wherewithal to make it work.