Jeremie Frimpong's Liverpool transfer is imminent - but he won't speak Dutch to Arne Slot

Jeremie Frimpong is the Flying Dutchman who doesn’t speak Dutch.

Frimpong at after the champions agreed to meet the £30million clause in his Bayer Leverkusen contract.

He is expected to complete the move to link up with countrymen , Virgil van Dijk, and Ryan Gravenberch in the next few days after Bayer end their Bundesliga campaign against Mainz.

Slot wants to add more pace to his team after seeing them struggle to contain an energetic Paris St Germain side in the - and Frimpong fits the bill. But the Liverpool manager will have to communicate with his new signing in English.

Frimpong was born in Amsterdam to Ghanaian parents but moved to Manchester with his mum and siblings when at the age of seven after they divorced. That prompted him to lose his Dutch language skills.

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Frimpong, who chose to sign for rather than Liverpool when he was a promising schoolboy player because the club’s training ground was just a bus ride away, chose Holland over Ghana when he was first selected for the country of his birth by Louis van Gaal ahead of the 2022 World Cup. He was also eligible to play for England.

Van Gaal and the rest of Holland’s squad were stunned when the full-back reported for duty unable to speak Dutch. Frimpong has picked up a few important words in the last three years, but still prefers to communicate in English.

The player did not make his debut until Van Gaal had been replaced by Ronald Koeman after the tournament in . Frimpong recalled: “Louis van Gaal told me that I had to have patience, but that I would absolutely make it.

“I remember when I was on the training pitch at Bayer Leverkusen and I heard that the Dutch squad for the World Cup in Qatar had been announced. I got back in the dressing room at Leverkusen and I saw that my phone had exploded with messages.

"I was invited to join the group of the national team. Louis had added a video to announce all the names of the players he wanted in the Dutch squad for the World Cup.

“I didn’t play in Qatar but Louis said ‘your time will come, please have patience.’ When Ronald Koeman came in he made it clear he had full trust in me as a player.”

Slot will now have a replacement for Real Madrid-bound Alexander-Arnold before the England defender has left Anfield. Speed has always been a big factor in the Liverpool manager’s playing philosophy.

During his time as coach of Feyenoord, Slot revealed: “I like players who can change direction at speed and force things to happen. You can't have enough of them.”

Frimpong’s journey to Anfield started in Manchester when he caught the eye of scouts from several clubs - including City and Liverpool.

He explained: “There were many scouts, but Liverpool was my first choice. I wanted to sign there, but nobody in my family drove a car then and Liverpool was far away. Manchester City was much closer, so that made a lot more sense.”

Frimpong was highly regarded at the Etihad but failed to make a first-team appearance before joining Celtic in a deal worth just £300,000 in 2019. He won the Scottish domestic treble in his first season in Glasgow before being signed by Leverkusen in January 2021 for £1.5million.

The defender was part of the team that won the German double under Xabi Alonso last season and has been on Slot’s radar ever since it became clear that Alexander-Arnold would not be signing a new contract.

Slot saw Frimpong produce a sensational performance in a Nations League quarter-final clash for Holland against Spain in Rotterdam in March when he gave ’s Marc Cucurella a torrid time with his attacking runs down the right.

Frimpong is planning to take a short holiday before reporting for International duty for the World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Malta next month - but expects to be a Liverpool player before he jets off.

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