Double deal? Liverpool want to sign both Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen this summer

Liverpool ‘close in on Jeremie Frimpong deal’ amid ‘secret’ Florian Wirtz transfer talks

Premier League champions could raid Bayer Leverkusen for two of their top stars, hijacking Manchester City in the proces

Liverpool are reportedly close to completing a move for Jeremie Frimpong, while they continue to be linked with his Bayer Leverkusen team-mate Florian Wirtz.

The Premier League champions are looking to secure an early transfer for a new right-back ahead of the first instalment of a split summer window after official confirmation that Trent Alexander-Arnold would be leaving his boyhood club for nothing at the end of the season after 21 years, with the expectation that he will join Real Madrid.

Liverpool appear to have settled on Frimpong as the ideal replacement for Alexander-Arnold, who was benched in favour of deputy Conor Bradley for Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw with former title rivals Arsenal at Anfield and then booed by sections of the home crowd after coming on as a second-half substitute.

Negotiations have been progressing swiftly, with the Dutch international said to be keen on a switch to Merseyside.

Now The Times report that Liverpool are expected to approach Leverkusen and trigger the release clause of approximately €35million (£29.4m), to make Frimpong their first signing of the summer.

Fabrizio Romano reported on Wednesday that talks between Liverpool and Frimpong’s representatives over personal terms had made more progress, with an agreement now considered to be close.

The deal is an attractive one for the Reds in terms of price, with the 24-year-old’s current contract at Leverkusen – a five-year extension penned back in 2023 – containing a release clause.

Top target: Liverpool see Frimpong as an ideal replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold at Anfield

London Standard

The move would see Frimpong return to English football, having come through the academy at Manchester City before joining Celtic for £300,000 as a teenager in 2019 having not made a senior appearance at the Etihad Stadium.

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He excelled in 51 outings in Scotland and won the domestic treble in 2020 before being sold to Leverkusen in January 2021 in a deal worth around £11.5m.

Frimpong, who has 12 senior international caps for the Netherlands and was included in the squads for both the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024, has since made nearly 200 appearances as a mainstay for Leverkusen, winning both the Bundesliga title and German Cup last season under Xabi Alonso, who will leave the club at the end of the season to replace the Brazil-bound Carlo Ancelotti as Real Madrid boss.

Former Liverpool and Madrid star Alonso is already closing in on his first signing at the Bernabeu after Los Blancos agreed to pay the £50m release clause of Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen, who had also been wanted by the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Runners-up Leverkusen have relinquished the title to Bayern Munich this term and conclude the current Bundesliga season away at Mainz on Saturday.

It could be a difficult summer ahead in terms of major departures from the BayArena, with attacker Wirtz also potentially set to exit.

The German international has enjoyed another fine campaign at Leverkusen and is a long-term target for several clubs including Manchester City, who are said to have met with his parents, Hans and Karin, on Tuesday during a visit to the UK as they seek to quickly replace departing club legend Kevin De Bruyne.

Bayern are also said to strongly want Wirtz, who could be valued at as much as £125m, while Liverpool were reported to have made contact themselves this week over a potential deal, with multiple reports of “secret talks” held over the 22-year-old.

City look to be trying to get their business done early this summer with the inaugural expanded Club World Cup in the United States looming, with suggestions this week of an approach to AC Milan for Frimpong’s Dutch team-mate Tijjani Reijnders and rumours over a move for Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White.