Former Celtic player Jeremie Frimpong has shed light on his Celtic experience, revealing a profound ‘father and son’ bond with former manager Neil Lennon.
Frimpong, a fan favourite during his time at Celtic Park, joined Bayer Leverkusen in January 2021 after emerging as a stand-out talent in the green and white hoops.
At just 18 years old, the promising Dutch right-back was lured away from Manchester City by Celtic in 2019, inking a four-year contract that would see him rack up more than 50 appearances for the Hoops over a season-and-a-half. His rapid ascent in the football world continues unabated, with titans like Real Madrid and Manchester United reported to be keeping an eye on his progress.
Nonetheless, Frimpong recently confessed to the Rising Ballers podcast that his move to Celtic almost fell through, with his brother playing a pivotal role in ensuring the deal materialised.
He said: [SunSport]
“It was just a normal day. Just going into training and I am going on my phone and seeing links to Celtic.
“Jeremie this, Jeremie that. So I am like ‘Yo, things are getting real.’ My team-mates were asking why I wasn’t going to training. Afterwards they came in and said ‘Jeremie is it true you are leaving? We are like brothers.
“I packed to go to Celtic and I said to my agent and the driver ‘let’s turn around I don’t want to go no more’. My agent was stressing. He was so stressed, he was saying ‘Jeremie you don’t understand this opportunity. This is life changing. This is first-team. This is Celtic. Big history and they play Champions League.’
“My brother text me on the phone and said forget about your friends. I understand how you are feeling but you said you wanted to be a footballer. There comes a time in your life that you need to leave your friends and need to sacrifice a lot, even your family. That journey starts now.
“Once he said that I was like ‘ok we are going’. They were like brothers to me and leaving them was one of the worst things I had to go through.”
If it wasn’t for that text, he probably wouldn’t have top European teams battling over his signature this summer.
Opening up on the relationship he had with Neil Lennon, the Dutchman said:
“My time at Celtic was amazing. I won everything there. There was this manager called Neil Lennon. I love him till this day. He loves me. Our relationship was like father and son.
“Sometimes the players would say go and speak to your dad and things like that. After we won the cup I think I ran to him and we both started laughing.
“I remember when I got the red card (in 2019 League Cup final against Rangers) I was like ‘oh my days what did I just do?’ We were leading 1-0 but that red card was a penalty for them. I was like ‘what did I just do?’ If they score now I am off and we are down to ten men against Rangers.
“I remember watching the penalty and Fraser Forster saved it. That moment I was so happy but than I had to relax as there was 30 minutes to go. I was sent to a room to watch it on TV. This was the worst time of my life but when the whistle went it was the best feeling.”
