Premier League champions Liverpool can add another positive to their pursuit of Jeremie Frimpong.
Liverpool are reportedly in advanced talks to sign the Netherlands winger from 2023-24 German Bundesliga winners Bayer Leverkusen.
Frimpong is the Reds' top target as they work to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has confirmed his departure from Anfield after more than two decades at his boyhood club and will join Real Madrid.
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Alexander-Arnold will link up with outgoing Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso in the Spanish capital and Frimpong is understood to be Liverpool-bound to work under compatriot Arne Slot.
According to German outlet Kicker, the clubs are close to agreeing a deal worth €40 million for the transfer of the 24-year-old.
And there's an added bonus for the Reds, who are losing a home-grown player when Alexander-Arnold leaves at the end of the season.
As pointed out by Anything Liverpool on X, formerly Twitter, Frimpong would also qualify as a home-grown player.
Frimpong's family moved to England when he was a child and he had international eligibility for England and Ghana as well as the Netherlands, for whom he now has 12 senior caps.
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Although he was born in Amsterdam and has never played senior football in England, Frimpong spent nine years at Manchester City as an academy player before signing for Celtic in 2019 and winning the treble in his first season in Glasgow.
He moved to Leverkusen in the January transfer window in 2021 and ended last season as a double winner and Bundesliga invincible.
Liverpool secured their 20th league title last month but and the new Premier League champions had already been boosted by new agreements with Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
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But Alexander-Arnold has chosen to leave Anfield and the Reds lose a home-grown player in the process.
It's understood that Slot will be backed in the upcoming summer transfer window and replacing Alexander-Arnold with another eligible player is a big plus in the Frimpong column.
Why do Liverpool need home-grown players?
Every club in the Premier League must submit a squad list of up to 25 players.
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No more than 17 of those players can be outside home-grown player eligibility, so if a manger wants the maximum squad size the club will need eight home-grown players.
The Premier League defines a home-grown player as: "A player who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)."
Under-21 players (those born on are after 1st January 2024 for next season, unless rules change this summer) do not count towards the maximum squad size of 25.
Frimpong's time at Man City far exceeds the home-grown player requirement.
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If he signs for Liverpool, he'll be a direct replacement for Alexander-Arnold in more ways than one.
Topics: Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen, Premier League, Champions League
Chris Nee