LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool quickly secured a replacement for thedeparting Trent Alexander-Arnoldby signing Netherlands right back Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday. Frimpong returns to England on what Liverpool called a "long-term contract" six years after leaving Manchester City, which he joined at age 9. He spent nine years there before joining Celtic without ever playing in the Premier League. "It went quite easy. Liverpool came and said they had interest, and obviously for me it was a no-brainer," Frimpong said in a Liverpool statement. Frimpong said he told his agents: "Whatever you guys do, just get this done." The 24-year-old Frimpong has blossomed after arriving in 2021 at Leverkusen, where he has been playing as an attacking wing back under Xabi Alonso. He was one of the German team's star players in its unbeaten Bundesliga campaign in the 2023-24 season. Frimpong is a like-for-like replacement for Alexander-Arnold, who announced on May 5 he was leaving Liverpool after a 20-year association. Liverpool received a fee on Friday tolet Alexander-Arnold leavein time to play for Real Madrid at the Club World Cup. Frimpong will compete with Conor Bradley for the right back position and give Liverpool manager Arne Slot the option of switching to a 3-5-2. Frimpong's international opportunities with the Dutch have been limited because of competition for right wing back with Inter Milan star Denzel Dumfries. Frimpong more recently played as an out-an-out winger against Spain in the Nations League playoffs. Born in Amsterdam, Frimpong grew up in Manchester and played for City's academy. He has said he had a hard time adapting to Celtic after leaving City in 2019 as he was farther away from family, but felt more comfortable in Germany. Frimpong's departure increases the scope of the rebuild Leverkusen andits new coach Erik ten Hagface following the departure of Xabi Alonso for Real Madrid. ___ AP soccer:https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
