Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was disappointed to see the Red Devils miss out on the opportunity to complete a deal for Liverpool’s latest signing
Rio Ferdinand wanted to see Jeremie Frimpong join Manchester United this summer and was left hurt the Netherlands international signed for Liverpool. The full-back arrived at Anfield after the Reds agreed to pay his £29.5million release clause to Bayer Leverkusen.
Frimpong signed a five-year deal with Liverpool as he was quickly brought in to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold after the academy product joined Real Madrid. The 24-year-old is among Europe’s most attacking right-backs and bagged five goals and eight assists in 2024/25, having scored 10 goals and provided seven assists this season before.
And Liverpool quickly swooped to shore up the gap in his squad in their squad with Alexander-Arnold’s exit long expected. And that has left Ferdinand dispondent.
The former Manchester United defender reckons Frimpong would have been ideally suited to Ruben Amorim’s style of play.
“Frimpong is going to Liverpool which will hurt me a little bit, I’ve got to be honest,” the former England international said on Rio Ferdinand Presents. “I think he would fit the way that Ruben Amorim wants to play perfectly.”
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Former Manchester City academy ace Frimpong had no doubts over agreeing a move to Liverpool however. “It went quite easy,” he said.
“Liverpool came and said they had interest, and obviously for me it was a no-brainer,” Frimpong said. “For me, it was like, ‘Whatever you guys do, just get this done’, [speaking to] my agents: ‘Just get this done.’
“Liverpool fans, I’m going to give my all, my energy, my work-rate and hopefully we can win together, we celebrate together, get everything together.
“I’m just excited to be here. Thank you guys for accepting me and I won’t let you guys down and I’ll give you the energy that you guys want.”
Despite his disappointment, Ferdinand has been pleased with how quickly Manchester United have moved in the transfer market. The Red Devils have already confirmed the signing of Matheus Cunha from Wolves.
“I have to say, I’m really excited about Cunha signing,” Ferdinand said. “I’m happy we signed him, I’m happy with how aggressive we’ve been immediately, acting on it instantly.”
He added: “I think this is a great start to the transfer window. If I was advising the recruitment team on anything now, I would be saying: ‘Please make sure you do not forget an experienced No.9’.
“I’m not going to say names, I’ve said the names too many times, and I would go and get a midfielder as well. A midfielder that can dictate the player and pass and be the orchestrator, but he also needs to have some legs about him as well.
“That’s what Ruben Amorim’s teams are about, they do that. Those two players would be the next ones, a centre-forward and a central midfielder, also a right-back.”
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
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