Neil Lennon found his fair share of hidden gems as Celtic manager.
The likes of Virgil van Dijk, Beram Kayal, Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama all arrived under the Northern Irishman and many others were brought to the club who became top stars.
It will forever be a feather in the former boss’ cap to have helped establish the careers of many big names in European football but none of the above were Lennon’s choice for the best he ever uncovered.
That honour is reserved for one young man who joined from Manchester City as a kid for around £300,000 back in 2019.
Jeremie Frimpong is currently one of the world’s best at right-back, plying his trade for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, having earned an £11million switch from Celts in 2021.
And though Lennon worked with a whole host of big names in Glasgow, he still credits Frimpong as one who came from nowhere and was found by chance.
Asked on the Warm Up about his best “find” as a manager, it took Lennon little time to respond: “Frimpong”.
Pushed on why – over Van Dijk – he added: “I know but Frimpong just came to me and because he cost so little, like £250-300k.
“Virgil was already in the first-team at Groningen, I wouldn’t say the finished article, but getting that way.
“Hooper I went to watch at Scunthorpe and got six points on my licence on the way down, so I’ll never forgive him for that! I knew after 15 minutes he was for me.
Lennon believes Jeremie Frimpong was his greatest ever Celtic ‘find’
“Fraser (Forster) I knew through Paul Lambert who had him on loan at Norwich.
“But Jerry I knew nothing about. I saw him in a bounce game at Lennoxtown and thought, ‘Wow’, the longer the game went on the better he got. Like the Duracell Bunny.
“Nick Hammond did a great job getting it over the line, it got to a point, there were senior players… we just couldn’t keep him out. He was that good in training. Phenomenal.”
Celtic will be due a 30 percent sell-on whenever Leverkusen decide to cash-in on their talented full-back and Lennon reckons it is only a matter of time.
What Jeremie Frimpong is worth now and how much Celtic will earn from his next transfer
“Will he move on again? 100 percent,” he said. “He’s one of the best in Europe now.
“You sign a player and you don’t think in four or five years time he’ll be…
“You’re hoping. Virgil you could see it, Forster you could see it.
“Hoops you could see would get to that level, but Jerry’s rise has been meteoric.”
Frimpong reportedly had a £34million release clause in his contract with Leverkusen but the German giants would have been pleased to see that expire back in July.
And Celts would rake in anywhere in the region of £4million or more on any deal.
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