For the first time in the club’s 119 year history, Bayer Leverkusen have been crowned this season’s Bundesliga champions after yesterday’s five-star win over Wolfsburg. Considered a fairytale run by many, Leverkusen’s triumph is nothing short of sheer invincibility.
Unbeaten across all competitions domestic and beyond, a whopping 16-point lead over record and now former champions Bayern Munich with five games to go and a two goal lead over West Ham United in the Europa League heading into the second leg, this was an absolute ruthless campaign from Xabi Alonso and his band of heroes from start to finish.
Deserved champions, this Leverkusen side is a perfect mix of young and the experienced. Wonderkids like Florian Writz and Victor Boniface assisted by the veterans in Granit Xhaka and captain Lukáš Hrádecký has been the recipe for the ‘meisters’. One of the young gems of Xabi Alonso’s troops, is undoubtedly, Jeremie Frimpong.
Certainly a cornerstone of the team, 23-year old Jeremie Frimpong plays at right-back or right wing-back for Bayer Leverkusen. Playing his trade at the BayArena for some time now, Jeremie has grabbed the spotlight this season under Xabi’s leadership. With 12 goals and 11 assists across all competitions this season, these numbers are absurd for a full-back, complementing his physical prowess and raw pace with efficient end product. It’s fair to say, Jeremie Frimpong has enjoyed a stellar breakout season and is one of the many success stories arising out of Leverkusen this campaign.
As the Bundesliga title has shot the team to glory and fame, much has been talked about Frimpong’s origins. After a victory lap post-match interview with ESPN, much has been made of Jeremie talking in an English accent very distinct to the city of Manchester. So where is he actually from?
Jeremie Frimpong was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands to parents of Ghanaian descent. However, when he was seven years old, he moved to England along with his family. More specifically, Manchester. There he joined his first club, Manchester City, in 2010 when he was nine and played with some of the brightest young talents of this generation such as Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho and played as a winger. After his formative years at City and successfully transitioning into a full-back, he signed for Celtic in 2019 where he won the Scottish Championship before joining his current club Bayer Leverkusen in 2021.
While his time at City and Glasgow Celtic explains the command over his English language, especially his Manchester accent, Frimpong comes from a household that spoke English, Dutch and Twi, a variety of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana.
Frimpong was born in Amsterdam, but to parents who hailed from Ghana. He also spent his childhood in the rainy Manchester, in Openshaw. This meant he is eligible to play for either Netherlands, Ghana and England. However the young ‘family man’ as he calls himself, putting his family at the heart of everything he does, chose to represent the nation of his birth, the Oranje. While he is already starting to become a crucial player in Dutch squad, he admits his Dutch is still a bit shaky, having spent much of his time away from the country.
Having found success at Bayer Leverkusen and beginning to make inroads in the Dutch national team setup, Frimpong is a football star in the making. Consistent performances and fantastic abilities of the right-back have caught the attention of many top clubs in Europe. Even a return to his former club Manchester City is on the cards and playing under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola is a frightening thought for the opposition.
Although, Jeremie has established himself as a key player for Leverkusen and as one of the best full-backs around, he could still potentially lift the Europa League and the DFP Pokal this season in addition to the Bundesliga. If he was not revered and desired enough by now, the next month or so could literally take his career to dizzying heights.
