Manchester United and Arsenal will now struggle to sign Bayer Leverkusen star Jeremie Frimpong as he has signed a new contract with the Bundesliga club.
Frimpong is a 22-year-old right-back who has been on Leverkusen’s books since January 2021. Before that he had spells at Manchester City and Celtic.
Since moving to Germany, Frimpong has put in some great performances for Leverkusen and has emerged into one of the most exciting young full-backs in Europe.
As would be expected, this has led to interest from some major teams. In May, it was claimed that Man Utd were in ‘advanced discussions’ to bring the Dutchman to the Premier League, which would unite him with compatriot Erik ten Hag.
However, the Red Devils then completed a U-turn on Frimpong’s capture. This put Arsenal in pole position to snap him up, but that move did not materialise either.
Frimpong remains of interest to multiple English clubs, including Man Utd and Arsenal. Plus, German outlet Kicker claim that Aston Villa might get in the mix by launching an offer. Although, a deal is now far more complicated as a result of his fresh contract.
READ MORE: Man Utd tipped to meet £52m clause to sign replacement for existing defender in January
Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano broke the news on Monday night. Writing on Twitter, he revealed that Frimpong is ‘set to accept’ the offer of a new, long-term contract from Leverkusen.
Romano added that ‘many clubs’ are tracking Frimpong’s situation, but he has opted to pen a new deal at the BayArena which will run until June 2028.
Leverkusen confirm new deal for Man Utd, Arsenal-linked star
And the club have now confirmed that the new contract is in place. In a club statement, they wrote: ‘Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with Jeremie Frimpong. The Dutch defender has penned a new deal that runs until 30 June 2028 instead of the summer of 2025.’
Reacting to the deal, the Amsterdam-born star said: “A lot has happened since then [my arrival in 2021], we’ve experienced great things and continually improved as a team. It’s great fun to be part of this team.”
Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes added: “Jeremie Frimpong has not just developed into an extremely popular figure in our squad over the past few years. At the moment, he is one of the best players in the Bundesliga in his position as an attacking right-back. The contract extension underlines Jeremie’s importance to our Werkself.”
Due to this new contract, the likes of Man Utd and Arsenal will have to pay more money if they want to sign Frimpong in summer 2024. But a transfer is not completely off the cards.
There are many cases of players extending their contracts with their current clubs before moving on not long afterwards. Just look at Moises Caicedo, who penned a deal with Brighton lasting until 2027 in March before joining Chelsea just a few months later.
It is likely that Frimpong will still end up showing his talent in the Prem, but that transfer has simply been postponed for now.
Meanwhile, a pundit has heaped pressure on Man Utd boss Ten Hag, while also naming three players who are struggling with the manager’s tactics.