Manchester United join Chelsea in the race for Bayer Leverkusen right-back Jeremie Frimpong
According to FootballTransfers (h/t Football.London), Manchester United join Premier League rivals Chelsea in the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen right-back Jeremie Frimpong.
The Blues are understood to be in the market to sign a right-back to offer support to Reece James in that area of the field. Moreover, this is the second time in two seasons that the Englishman has suffered long-term injuries. So, managing his game time could be key for his career longevity.
Chelsea could hijack United’s plans of signing Frimpong. Although the Red Devils would want to accelerate their processes to sign the former Manchester City and Celtic defender, it is claimed that he grew up as a Blues fan.
So, this is where Graham Potter would have an advantage. The Dutch U21 international has a contract with Leverkusen until the summer of 2025 (Transfermarkt).
Frimpong was a youth product at Manchester City before moving to Celtic in 2019. He played one-and-a-half good seasons there before moving to Leverkusen in the January window of 2021. Since then he has been one of the regular players in the German side’s lineup.
This season though, he has played more as a right-sided midfielder and rarely as a right-back. As a result, he has been more influential in the final third, with five goals and two assists in 16 appearances in all competitions so far.
Given his flexibility on the right-hand side, it can be assumed that Frimpong can operate as a right-back and right-wing-back. If that is the case, he would be an ideal understudy to James in the Chelsea squad and can even compete with him for regular playing time.
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- Vinicius Junior names Chelsea star Reece James as one of his toughest opponents
It is pretty evident that club captain Cesar Azpilicueta cannot make those up-and-down runs at the high-intensity game after game from that position anymore. So, the club would be wise to sign a young dynamic right-back, be it in January or next summer.