Cody Gakpo believes Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni van Bronckhorst will add real quality to Liverpool this season as the club prepares for another title challenge.
Frimpong became the Reds’ fourth Dutch player when he joined from Bayer Leverkusen earlier this summer.
The 23-year-old signed a five-year deal after Liverpool agreed a €35 million (£29.5m) fee with Leverkusen. The versatile right-footer is widely seen as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long-term successor. He played a key role in Leverkusen’s Bundesliga-winning side in 2023–24 and made 53 appearances last season as they finished second. He will now compete for the right-back spot with Conor Bradley, who recently signed a new four-year contract.
Gakpo, who knows Frimpong well from the national team, is excited about what the energetic defender will bring to Arne Slot’s squad.
“He is maybe already the fastest player on the team,” Gakpo told Liverpoolfc.com in Hong Kong. “He has a good cross, he can defend, he can attack. I think he can help us a lot.”
Van Bronckhorst, a former Dutch international and experienced manager, is now part of Slot’s coaching staff. He joins a new-look setup at Anfield, replacing John Heitinga, who left to take over as Ajax head coach.
“As a player, he has a lot of experience. And also as a manager,” Gakpo said. “I think he can teach us a lot from what he experienced in his career, as a player and as a manager. He has a lot to tell how it was as a player and the teams he played in, so I think everybody is very curious [about] what he has for us.”
Liverpool began their training schedule in Hong Kong on Monday and will face AC Milan in a pre-season friendly on Saturday. The squad is then set to travel to Japan to face Yokohama F. Marinos in their final warm-up match.
“The manager said it was a light session to start the week with, so we are curious to see what tomorrow will bring! But it was a good session to get used to the weather and everything,” Gakpo said.
The Dutch forward also praised the atmosphere since the team landed in Asia and thanked the fans for their support.
“It’s amazing. Even when we arrived at the hotel, a lot of people were cheering for us. They will never let us down. Like we say, You’ll Never Walk Alone. They are everywhere, it’s amazing. We are all looking forward to the game there with a lot of people.”
