In his first interview with new club Bayer Leverkusen, Jeremie Frimpong namechecked Rangers without mentioning his former Glasgow club in another sign of the times.
Following a reported transfer fee of just under £10 million, the attacking Dutch full back has left Scotland for the Bundesliga to join the ‘Werkself’ who eliminated Steven Gerrard’s team from last season’s Europa League in the Last 16.
Speaking to the Bayer Leverkusen website, the former Manchester City youth stated,
“I’m totally looking forward to the Bundesliga and, of course, this club in particular. Bayer 04 Leverkusen have regularly been in the Champions League and the Europa League.”
“They demonstrated their ambition on the European stage last year in the two games against Glasgow Rangers,”
The 20 year old will need to further improve his game and end-product in order to make an impact in Leverkusen but he still has plenty of time for development, having signed a four year deal.
He also stated, “I really like the offensive, fast and technical style of play at Bayer 04 and I hope I can soon help the team.”
German football legend Rudi Völler, currently the sporting managing director at Leverkusen said of the deal,
“We have completed a transfer completely in the spirit of Bayer 04 with the signing of Jeremie Frimpong.”
“Young, accomplished on the ball, versatile, with top pace and a very lively style of play – players like that fit in with the way we want to perform on the pitch,” said Völler.
“If Jeremie continues in the same way in the coming years with the consistency he has shown up to now then he could be an important part of our team.”