Jeremie Frimpong has backed his Liverpool teammate Florian Wirtz to rediscover his best form at Anfield and is confident the midfielder can handle the pressure of his £116 million transfer fee.
Wirtz has faced intense scrutiny since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer as one of the most highly-rated young players in Europe. The 22-year-old ended his long wait for his first Liverpool goal in the 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last month but once again attracted criticism after struggling to make an impact in the Reds’ 0-0 draw with Leeds United on Thursday.
However, Frimpong — who also joined Liverpool in the summer after playing alongside Wirtz at Leverkusen — has no doubt that this is only the beginning for the 22-year-old.
“That’s my boy,” Frimpong said of Wirtz. “When I heard he was coming [to Liverpool], it put a smile on my face because we basically started our Leverkusen career together and we’re starting our Liverpool career together as well.
“I know how good of a player Flo is. Like I said in plenty of interviews, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have won a double with Leverkusen. We know how good he is and to see him doing it now, this is just the start. There’s plenty more to come from him.
“I think Flo is the type of player that doesn’t care about these things [like] the price tag. He’s just happy to play football. For me personally, I think Flo takes pressure really well. He’s just a guy that loves the ball at his feet. When he plays, he’s just enjoying it. So, for me, I don’t think he cares about all this.
“What was it, £116m? So [from] the outside it’s like, ‘whoa’. But he doesn’t care about all that. He knows how good he is. He just wants to play.”
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Frimpong’s own start to life at Liverpool has not been without its challenges. The defender — who has also played on the wing for Arne Slot’s side in recent weeks — sustained a hamstring injury on the opening day of the season and suffered a reoccurrence of the issue against Eintracht Frankfurt in October.
But, having now returned to full fitness, the Netherlands international is hopeful that his devastating pace can prove a useful weapon for Liverpool as they look to climb the Premier League table.
“I’ve been injured for a long time,” he said. “I just want to play football. You could say that I missed playing, so, of course, I’m happy to be back on the pitch. But I want to win as well.
“It was really, really tough because, touch wood, I’m not really the type of guy that gets injured. So it was really difficult for me to deal with, but I had my family around me, so that was good.
“I’m just happy to be back on the pitch. I’m just happy to play football, to just contribute and help my team. I play the same, regardless if I play at right-back, or I play right wing. I just use my ability and my speed so it doesn’t matter to me.”
On how he has settled in at Anfield, Frimpong added: “I think with all of them, they’re really cool guys. They took me in really well when I first came, so it’s quite easy to bounce off each other’s energy, especially Hugo [Ekitike]. We’re bouncing off each other’s energy, so it’s really nice.”
