Rio Ferdinand says it ‘hurts’ that Man Utd were beaten to £29.5m signing by bitter rivals

Rio Ferdinand says it ‘hurt’ to see Manchester United miss out on the signing of Jeremie Frimpong as the right-back would have been a ‘perfect’ fit for Ruben Amorim’s system.

The Red Devils had been keeping close tabs on Frimpong’s progress for well over a year, with the 24-year-old wing-back earning himself plenty of admirers across Bayer Leverkusen’s historic 2023/24 season under Xabi Alonso.

Frimpong followed this up with another eye-catching campaign at Leverkusen this term – and United were believed to be among the frontrunners to capture the Netherlands international in the summer transfer market.

But Liverpool overtook United in the race for Frimpong after begrudgingly accepting Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure for Real Madrid and the Dutchman’s arrival on Merseyside was confirmed Friday.

Frimpong put pen to paper on a five-year contract at Anfield and joins the newly crowned Premier League champions for a fee of £29.5million.

‘It went quite easy. Liverpool came and said they had interest, and obviously for me it was a no-brainer,’ Frimpong told the Reds’ official website.

‘For me, it was like, “Whatever you guys do, just get this done,” [speaking to] my agents: “Just get this done!”

‘Liverpool fans, I’m going to give my all, my energy, my work-rate and hopefully we can win together, we celebrate together, get everything together.

‘I’m just excited to be here. Thank you guys for accepting me.

‘I won’t let you guys down and I’ll give you the energy that you guys want.’

Liverpool’s interest in Frimpong reportedly stretches back over a decade, with the Merseyside giants initially attempting to him up on an academy contract in 2010.

But United legend Ferdinand says the move still ‘hurts’ as he is confident the former Celtic and Leverkusen star would have been ideally suited to the way Amorim sets up his teams.

‘Frimpong is going to Liverpool which will hurt me a little bit, I’ve got to be honest,’ the ex-United and England defender said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.

‘I think he would fit the way that Ruben Amorim wants to play perfectly.’

Ferdinand is, though, delighted to see United wrap up their first piece of summer transfer business by signing Matheus Cunha from Wolves – subject to visa approval and registration procedures.

‘I have to say, I’m really excited about Cunha signing,’ Ferdinand explained.

‘I’m happy we signed him, I’m happy with how aggressive we’ve been immediately, acting on it instantly.’

After luring Cunha to the Theatre of Dreams, Ferdinand hopes to see his former club bring in a striker, a central midfielder and a right-back.

He added: ‘I think this is a great start to the transfer window. If I was advising the recruitment team on anything now, I would be saying: “Please make sure you do not forget an experienced No.9”,’ Ferdinand said.

‘I’m not going to say names, I’ve said the names too many times, and I would go and get a midfielder as well.

‘A midfielder that can dictate the player and pass and be the orchestrator, but he also needs to have some legs about him as well. That’s what Ruben Amorim’s teams are about, they do that.

‘Those two players would be the next ones, a centre-forward and a central midfielder, also a right-back.’

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