Liverpool sign Man City academy product BETTER than Cole Palmer

Manchester City's academy has an impressive track record, as much as that hurts to say, but it's Liverpool who are about to benefit from it.

The Reds have targeted a lot of former City academy graduates over the last few years. Romeo Lavia was sought after before he made his move to Chelsea.

READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano confirms agreement for winger

More recently, Liverpool have also been looking at the likes of Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap and Morgan Rogers.

All of whom had been playing in City's academy from a young age before making a name for themselves elsewhere.

They are not alone of course. Cole Palmer, one of the best players in the Premier League, also started his career out at Manchester City before making the brave decision to leave and join Chelsea.

It's a move that so could have easily backfired but Palmer only stepped-up and showcased his exciting potential.

Signing Palmer now is a fanciful wish for Liverpool. However, it doesn't matter because the Reds have brought someone in who is even better.

READ MORE: Liverpool receive significant BOOST in hunt for €75m centre-back

We are talking about Jeremie Frimpong of course. Liverpool merely confirmed that he joined the club a few days ago and Anfield Watch has been able to excusively interview one of his former teammates from Manchester City.

Frimpong spent many years at City's academy developing alongside some of the players we mentioned above. Yet despite this, he never made a first team appearance and actually decided to leave the club when he was just a teenager.

Speaking to Anfield Watch, Joe Hardy, the former Manchester City academy forward, revealed Frimpong was always a massive talent at the club.

"He was always one of the ones," Hardy said.

"I think he was around the same age as Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Cole Palmer, I think he was in the same age as those guys. But Jeremie was the one I remember at under 18. He was the one that would come up from their age group and train and play with us.

"And he was always such a top lad. So funny.

"He was such a small quick player and he came and he dealt with playing against players two years older and playing right-back and he kind of got himself into a position where he was the starting right-back in the U18 team when he was still only 15 or 16-years-old."

Despite being above Palmer when it comes to getting those promotions and playing for City's U18s at a younger age, Frimpong had a much more difficult pathway into the first team, having to compete with Kyle Walker.

"It's one of those, you know, he's gonna be professional footballer, but you just don't know where. And I would say there's not many harder places to do it than than at City because obviously you can see what the team has done under Pep," Hardy said.

"Obviously Cole [Palmer] as well. But Jeremy was playing up instead of Cole throughout the Academy. So yeah, maybe a little I was surprised but you just have to look at the competition.

"They obviously had Kyle Walker and it's one of those where no matter how good you are and until you're actually better than what's there, then there's nothing really you can do."

It's really exciting to hear that there was a time when Frimpong was considered a bigger prospect than Palmer at Man City.

Hardy's words simply accentuate just how exciting of a talent Liverpool have on their hands. Frimpong is world-class and he has the potential to be even better.

In years to come, he'll have the opportunity to prove the talent Man City identified in him at such a young age in the Premier League.

READ MORE: Liverpool ready move for the ‘most COMPLETE striker’

Palmer may be all the hype at the moment, but it's Frimpong who could become the better academy prospect from Man City, and his move to Liverpool is the first step in proving exactly that.