Manchester City are looking to re-sign a player who came through their youth ranks, in what would be a huge admission of a mistake.
Rarely do Manchester City make mistakes in the transfer market, with their signings and sales generally all working out well for the club. However, in this instance, it seems a player with 23 goal contributions this season has managed to slip through the net.
And a cut-price deal is available for Pep Guardiola's side, too, with a reasonable release clause making a potential transfer much more likely.
According to TeamTalk, Manchester City want Bayer Leverkusen full-back Jeremie Frimpong to join the club this summer, with the 23-year-old viewed as a long-term replacement for Kyle Walker.
With Walker now 33, the report suggests that Pep Guardiola is keen on freshening that position up, with Frimpong ticking all the right boxes.
Frimpong came through the Manchester City academy as a youth player, joining the club at nine before leaving in 2019 to pursue first team football with Celtic. The Dutchman's performances in Scotland earned him a move to the Bundesliga a couple of years later with Bayer Leverkusen, and now Manchester City seem keen on re-signing their youth graduate.
Despite recently signing a new contract extension to keep him at Bayer Leverkusen until 2028, Frimpong's release clause of €40m becomes available this summer. Naturally, after managing 12 goals and 11 assists in 36 games this season, plenty of clubs are looking to take advantage of Frimpong's situation - Manchester City among them.
While he's been excelling at Bayer Leverkusen under Xabi Alonso in a right-wing-back role, Frimpong is just as capable and comfortable slotting in to a back four and has, on occasion, even played in a more advanced right-wing role.
In FourFourTwo's view, Frimpong would be a great coup for Manchester City, especially after the phenomenal season he has had. Liverpool and Real Madrid are also reportedly interested in him, though, while there's always the possibility he continues his career at Bayer Leverkusen. Regardless, the money clearly won't prove an issue for City, while he could be perfect to slot in at right-back instead of Walker.
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