Amid speculation linking Aston Villa with an interest in Bayer Leverkusen right-back Jeremie Frimpong, it’s been suggested that he will not be available this month.
The 23-year-old has emerged as one of the top talents in his position since joining the German outfit in 2021, often playing more advanced in an attacking role too, as after contributing nine goals and 11 assists in 48 appearances last season, he has already taken his tallies to seven goals and 10 assists in just 22 games so far in this campaign.
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Unsurprisingly, that has led to speculation of interest from elsewhere, including from Villa, with the Athletic reporting that Frimpong is a target as we consider strengthening our options at right-back.
While it’s noted in the report above that his price-tag could prevent a deal from being done in the January transfer window, that sentiment has been echoed by Fabrizio Romano, who notes that Leverkusen have no intention of selling one of their most important players and prized assets this month.
Given that the Bundesliga side are challenging for major honours this year, they will surely be desperate to avoid any sales halfway through the season that risk derailing their bid for success.
Further, he adds that Frimpong’s €40m release clause is not valid this month, and will only be active in June, thus suggesting that it’s highly unlikely that a transfer will materialise in the coming weeks.
Since Unai Emery’s appointment, he has made it clear that we will only sign players who significantly improve the current squad, and so it doesn’t seem in keeping with his mentality and approach on the transfer market that we would rush and consider paying over the odds if Frimpong is indeed a top target.
In turn, we’ll likely have to wait until the summer to determine whether or not he’s a priority, but the rumours do suggest that the right-back position is an area in which we believe we can improve.
Matty Cash is of course the obvious option to start in that position currently, while Ezri Konsa has shown his versatility and class to shift across and fill that role when needed as Emery often prefers to play with three centre-halves in his backline.
Calum Chambers can play there too but his involvement has been severely limited amid question marks over his future at Villa, and if we want to compete at the top level on a consistent basis, it is felt that an upgrade would be needed in that department.
Taking those points into consideration, signing a new right-back would make sense, assuming youngster Kaine Kesler-Hayden isn’t considered a viable option moving forward in the long-term, and given the level at which Frimpong has been performing at consistently for some time now at Leverkusen, he would certainly be an exciting addition if we were able to land his signature in the summer.