Liverpool PROFIT from latest Pep Guardiola transfer failure

Jeremie Frimpong looks set to become a Liverpool player in the near future. The Reds are close to wrapping up a deal for the 24-year-old, who joins from Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool saw value in Frimpong’s reported €40m release clause with the wing-back’s move now a formality.

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The Dutch international spent NINE years at Manchester City’s academy before taking his chances at Celtic back in 2019.

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Frimpong was an immediate hit north of the border, winning the Scottish treble before moving on to win a double at Leverkusen under Xabi Alonso.

Now it looks like Liverpool are about to become the latest team to benefit from some short-term thinking at Man City.

Pep Guardiola has been in charge at the Etihad since 2016 and has overseen the biggest period of success in the team’s history. A treble in 2023 was the high point of Pep’s reign but there are now signs that his aging team needs renewing.

Looking through the list of City academy players released or sold during the Guardiola era, you come to realise that he’s let the makings of a super team slip through his grasp.

Guardiola ditches Frimpong

Frimpong is one such name. While City struggle for a consistent right-back in the absence of Kyle Walker, they are being made to regret letting Frimpong go.

Although born in Amsterdam, the defender was raised in Manchester - but had to leave the club once he saw Joao Cancelo arrive from Juventus.

“I had been at City all my football life and I had the ability to play there,” he told The Scotsman back in 2019.

“But I knew in my head that it was about the coach, Pep Guardiola, trusting me to play. And I knew I wasn’t going to get that. So I needed to change something.

“When he bought another right-back this summer, Joao Cancelo, that topped it off because he is a young guy as well.

“You train with the first team every week and then you go back down with the under-23s. There wasn’t really a pathway for me at Man City.”

It’s a familiar feeling for some of the best young talents around. There are others - such as Reds' target Felix Nmecha, Jadon Sancho and Tosin Adarabioyo - who might have gone on to create brilliance at City but instead were allowed to leave by the back door.

Pep ditches Palmer and Rogers

And then you have Cole Palmer, who was begging for game time in the seasons leading up to his departure for Chelsea.

The England international cost only £42.5m in the summer of 2023 - becoming one of the best players in the Premier League in the process. Couldn’t Pep spot his talent?

"In pre-season I said stay because Riyad [Mahrez] has gone and he said 'no, I want to leave'," Guardiola said about Palmer’s loss.

"After two seasons, what could I say? I said many times, I didn't give him the minutes that he maybe deserved and wanted, the minutes he now has at Chelsea.”

And what about Morgan Rogers - another reported Reds target?

The Aston Villa playmaker was allowed to leave in the same summer as Palmer, with City content to bank a small fee from Middlesbrough.

Look at him now; on the radar of Liverpool and established as a Champions League performer.

Or Michael Olise?

The Bayern Munich superstar was a City academy player from 2016 to 2017 but opted to leave in order to make the breakthrough at Reading instead. No pathway existed for him at City - a similar situation to Frimpong.

Has Pep lost his touch?

There’s more. Brahim Diaz has become a highly decorated star at Real Madrid but Pep barely gave him any game time before opting to sell in 2019.

Then we have Liam Delap. He is another player linked with Liverpool and one who found himself squeezed out by Erling Haaland’s arrival at Eastlands.

He kicked around on loan before heading to Ipswich on a permanent basis in 2024. The English striker could be set to move to one of the biggest teams around this summer, with an enticing release clause of £30m in his contract.

We could also mention Jamie Gittens - who followed the Sancho path to Borussia Dortmund - as well as Romeo Lavia and Eric Garcia.

There are plenty of examples, which demonstrate that Guardiola might not be as adept at spotting academy talent as he was at Barcelona. Or maybe he’s not brave enough to trust them.

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Either way, these players have gone on to establish themselves at the highest level while City suffer from a lull in their own ominous form. Liverpool have a chance to turn the screw even further by getting the best out of Frimpong.