Celtic defender Jeremie Frimpong has stated that he knows he’ll have to be patient in his search for more first-team football.
The youngster, signed from Manchester City in the summer, made his debut for the Hoops against Partick Thistle last week. He impressed with both his directness and composure on the ball. For a first-team debut, it couldn’t have gone much better for a right-back.
However, the reality of the situation is that competition is high in his position. Both Hatem Abd Elhamed and Moritz Bauer occupy the right-back and first reserve spots respectively. Frimpong has been training with the first-team recently, but is still seen as one for the future by many.
And, as he opened up in the Celtic View this week (Volume 55, Issue 13, Page 23), Frimpong stated that he’s ready to work hard for more opportunities.
“Right now I’m just trying to train as hard as I can to earn another opportunity in the first team. I know I’m going to have to be patient because there are a lot of quality players in the team and I’m still young.
“But the manager has shown faith in me and that means a lot. I know I’m at the perfect club that will give me the chance to fulfill my potential.
“I’ve always just wanted to get to first-team football as quickly as possible, so that’s been the only thing I’ve focused on in my life. Everything else either isn’t that important or it can wait.”
Frimpong has determination – but his patience will be tested
Celtic have historically been a club that takes great pride in developing youngsters or players from the academy. However, that has to be done at the right time for the club.
In what’s a cut-throat environment in Scotland, there isn’t a lot of room for error this season. If Neil Lennon is going to give Frimpong more chances in this campaign, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of fixture he plays him in.
Celtic don’t look like having the luxury of using Premiership games to experiment this season. Depending on how our rivals across Glasgow perform, it could be too tight to blood youngsters in as often as we would like.
But Frimpong proved against Partick that he has the ability to slot in without being a passenger. He was one of the real driving forces against the Jags. His performance suggested that he can easily cut it in the Premiership.
Given Moritz Bauer has struggled with a knock or two since joining, and Elhamed seems to play at centre-back just as much as right-back, that could give Frimpong a glimmer of hope.
However, for the time being, the Dutch youngster should continue to keep himself match-fit with the reserves.
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