Jeremie Frimpong has opened up about his exit from, revealing that the club's lack of faith in his abilities led him to seek pastures new. The 24-year-old became 's first summer signing on Friday after the newly-crowned champions activated his £29.6million (€35m) release clause, snatching him from .

The Dutch international is making a comeback to English football six years after he left City's academy, where he had been honing his skills since the tender age of 10. Despite climbing the ranks to the under-23 level, Frimpong never got the chance to shine for City's first team.

His nearly decade-long journey with reached a crossroads during contract talks in 2019. In an early 2024 interview with, the Bundesliga title winner shared that it was City's blunt assessment of his prospects for first-team football that convinced him to move on.

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"I kept playing [an age group] down and I think when I was under-23's at City, I remember going in for a new contract and that's when I knew my path at City was different," Frimpong recounted.

"They were talking about how I couldn't get into the team and were comparing me to other players in the academy that were doing better than me. I thought: 'Yeah, I clearly don't have a future here' so I've got to take a different step," reports .

"I remember going to that meeting and he was saying: 'You're too small,' and it'll be too physical. That's when I was thinking: 'Oh s***, where am I gonna go?'"

Fast forward, and Frimpong has silenced his doubters, winning league honours with and Leverkusen, and becoming a staple for the Netherlands national team.

With his move to , Frimpong is now part of a sizeable Dutch contingent, which includes Virgil van Dijk, , Ryan Gravenberch, and manager . Unlike his past experience at City, Frimpong revealed that Slot has been nothing but supportive, fuelling his confidence.

"I spoke to the manager a few times," he told LFCTV. "He sounds very positive. He says I can bring a lot of energy and my qualities, my speed.

"Especially when a manager is talking positively about you, it gives you very good confidence that he believes in you. I've had good conversations with him.

"I'm really excited [to work with Arne Slot]. Even when I was at [the] national team, some of the Feyenoord boys would tell me about him and be like: 'He's the best coach I've ever had.'

"Things like this. So, I've always heard good things about the coach. Now he's going to be my coach, so I'm excited for that."

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