Brendan Rodgers once pipped Celtic to their top right-back target – inadvertently setting the wheels in motion for them to sign Jeremie Frimpong instead.
The summer of 2019 was a transitional one for the Hoops who were left in a state of flux after Rodgers‘ bombshell exit earlier in the year left Neil Lennon to pick up the pieces. And while Lennon’s second spell in charge is ultimately remembered for the collapse of 9 in a Row, his first one went to plan, winning the Premiership title and both domestic cups after the season was curtailed early due to Covid.
It was a mixed transfer window with as many hits as misses, but while the the likes of Ismaila Soro, Boli Bolingoli and Patryk Klimala will hardly go down in history for the right reasons, one man who will is Frimpong. A £350,000 acquisition from Manchester City, he ended up being flipped to Bayer Leverkusen for £11.5m 18 months later – and that’s a fee that could rise even further with a sell-on negotiated as part of the deal.
But it could all have been so different for Celtic as Frimpong’s arrival only came after they failed to land one of their top targets – then-Luton Town defender James Justin. Lennon wanted the Englishman, but was ultimately muscled out by competition down south, with Rodgers’ Leicester winning the race in the end.
Justin has remained at Leicester ever since and struggled to realise his potential, largely due to a succession os serious injuries. Frimpong, meanwhile, has blossomed into one of the best in his position on the planet and could still go for megabucks in one of the upcoming windows – the Hoops set to bank around 30 per cent of the profit on any sale. That could see a further windfall approaching £10m if the £50-60m price tag on Frimpong’s head is met.