Frimpong was born in Amsterdam – the fifth child of seven – although he has spent the majority of his life in Britain.
He was seven when he arrived in England with his family and grew up in the east Manchester suburb of Clayton, playing for AFC Clayton on Saturday mornings before turning out for Clayton Villa a few hours later.
Aged nine, he was scouted by Manchester City and placed in their academy, where he crossed paths with Jadon Sancho in the under-18s before the latter moved to Borussia Dortmund in 2017.
Frimpong went on to play for City’s under-23s, played in the EFL Trophy at places like Rochdale, Crewe and Barnsley, and made appearances in the Uefa Youth League.
But in 2019, at the age of 18, he left City for Celtic without playing a single minute of senior football.
Celtic, who paid City £300,000, originally bought Frimpong to provide cover but within three months he played – and was sent off – in the Scottish League Cup final against Rangers, who were managed by former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.
Frimpong recovered from that red card to become a trusted member of the team, and just over a year later he signed for Leverkusen in a deal worth around £10m.
“I’ve never seen a better kid than him,” said Neil Lennon, his manager at Celtic.
“The quality of his play, the pace of his play, the end product.”
Former Celtic forward Sutton highlights Frimpong’s electric pace as he adds: “He was only at Celtic for a season or two and when he arrived you worried about him size-wise, but he gave the team such an attacking thrust.
“He is very small but size isn’t everything. He is extremely quick, and definitely attack-minded. I think everyone viewed him as a better attacker than defender.”
