No Saudi exit for Jeremie Frimpong, and the Reds are right to hold their nerve
Every January window brings its share of noise, and Jeremie Frimpong has found himself caught up in some of it. Stories in recent days claimed intermediaries had been offering the Dutch right-back to Al-Hilal, sparking a wave of speculation that his Liverpool career could be cut short before it had really got going. We can relax on that front.
According to TEAMtalk, sources close to the situation have flatly rejected the idea, insisting there is no meaningful interest from Saudi Arabia and nothing behind the exit chatter. Liverpool have reached a clear position on this, and that position is that Frimpong stays.
The outlet adds that his representatives and the club are on the same page about his immediate future at Anfield. When player and club are aligned like that, outside speculation tends to run out of road very quickly.
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A big investment on a long contract
Context matters here. Liverpool brought Frimpong in from Bayer Leverkusen in summer 2025 for roughly €40m (around £33.4m), and he is tied down until 2030. That is not the kind of deal a club walks away from after a handful of months, and nobody at Anfield appears to be under any pressure to cash in.
It has not been a smooth start, which is partly why the rumours gained traction in the first place. A recent muscle injury has kept him on the sidelines, and in his absence Andoni Iraola has turned to Ronald Araujo and Joe Gomez on the right side of the defence. Reduced minutes and fitness setbacks have stalled his momentum at precisely the point he needed to be building it.
Yet the reporting is clear that Liverpool still count him as part of their plans for this season. The expectation is that he recovers, fights his way back into the reckoning and plays a meaningful role across the second half of the campaign, with the Reds competing on both domestic and European fronts.
The only caveat is the familiar one. An offer too good to turn down could always change the picture, but at this stage that looks unlikely.
Why we think Liverpool have this right
Our view is that keeping him is the sensible call, even if there are fair questions about exactly where he fits. The excitement when he signed was justified. He brings genuine speed, drive in the final third and the kind of unpredictability that can unlock a tight game. None of that has disappeared because of a frustrating few months.
What has shifted is perception. At a club where every position is picked apart, a player who is injured and out of the side can quickly be painted as a mistake, and a Saudi link so soon after arrival only feeds that story. This update goes a long way towards killing it off.
Selling in January would make very little sense. Liverpool paid for a particular skill set, and giving up before he has had a proper, injury-free run would be poor business and poor man management.
The challenge waiting for him
That does not mean the pressure is off. Iraola clearly wants his full-backs to be dependable defensively as well as dangerous going forward, and Frimpong still has to show he can offer both on a consistent basis. Araujo and Gomez have given the head coach reliable options, so the shirt will not simply be handed back to him.
For us, the best way to frame this is as a reset. Get fit, get back into the matchday squad, compete for minutes and let the second half of the season do the talking. A full-back with his engine and his eye for a forward run can be a real weapon in the tighter games that decide where trophies end up, and that is the version of Frimpong we are still waiting to see. If he finds his rhythm, the conversation around him could flip very quickly, and the Saudi rumours will look every bit as flimsy as they now appear.
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