Celtic look set to lose a promising youngster as the window draws to a close
While Tuesday’s reports that Jeremie Frimpong will soon depart Scotland still hold up, his eventual destination is now less clear-cut.
Frimpong was thought to be on the verge of a move to Bayer Leverkusen, with manager Neil Lennon confirming that the plater had travelled abroad for talks with a club.
Now it appears that the Dutchman may have a choice between the Bundesliga and Serie A.
According to Record Sport, Fiorentina have made a bid for the right-back.
Leverkusen are believed to have offered in excess of £10m for the 20-year-old, but could now face competition from Cesare Prandelli’s side.
If a deal is concluded, Manchester City could stand to make at least £3m, having inserted a 30% sell-on clause when Frimpong left the Etihad for Celtic Park in 2019.
The Scottish Sun quoted Lennon as saying: “He made it clear he wanted to leave.
“This hasn’t appeared in the last couple of days. This has been in the background for the last six or seven weeks.
“The club have made strides to renegotiate with Jeremie and that wasn’t the case. The player made it clear to me, to Nick (Hammond, head of football operations) and to the board that he wanted to leave.”
The Guardian quoted him as saying: “It’s difficult when it’s a player you’ve helped to develop. You’re sorry to see him go but he didn’t want to stay and progress here.
“There was a determination about him to go so we took our decision.
“I feel a bit let down because we felt we could progress him further. We offered him a new deal which would have kept him here for another two or three years but it was down to the player’s personal ambition.
“Whether that’s the right way for him remains to be seen. From a business point of view and maybe from a footballing point of view as well, when a player’s mind is set like that it’s very difficult to bring him back round.”
Celtic return to action after a weekend off when they play host to Hamilton Accies this evening.
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