Jeremie Frimpong insists Celtic already have a manager-in-waiting within their ranks as he lifts lid on Parkhead spell

Jeremie Frimpong may have left Celtic, but Celtic hasn’t left him.

Jeremie Frimpong is in noubt that Scott Brown had more than a hand in the development that has now taken him to Bayer Leverkusen. (Photo by SNS Group).

And the right-back, who moved to Bayer Leverkusen in a £11.5m deal last month, feels the associations Scott Brown has with the club will not end when he is no longer playing for his football home for the past 14 seasons. The 35-year-old is unsure what awaits him beyond the expiry of his current contract - despite an offer of a year’s extension - but Frimpong believes that one day the role last week vacated by Neil Lennon could be his.

"If he wanted to be a manager I feel he'd be a great manager,” said the 20-year-old of his former captain, the Dutchman offering a “why not?” to John Kennedy switching from his current interim managerial status to permanent successor to Lennon next season. “The way he [Brown] speaks, the way he motivates the players. He knows a lot about the game and has been in it a long time, so he's experienced. I feel he'd be great."

Across his 17 months in Glasgow, Frimpong believes he personally benefited from the guidance of the veteran, who has recently enjoyed a renaissance after dropping out of the soon-to-be-deposed champions’ side for a spell.

"When I first came and played my first match he would tell me what I should do, what's best for me in this position,” said Frimpong, who arrived in September 2019 from Manchester City for an initial £300,000 fee.

“He'd say, 'Use your ability when you go forward and attack them, you're the fastest in the league, they won't catch you', things like that. Defensively he would tell me as well, about my positioning and that I can't always rely on my speed. If you put yourself in a better position then you don't even have to use it. He's more experienced and would give me little things like this, and it really helped, because look at where I am today! I'll always be grateful."

Frimpong admits to missing aspects of Celtic even in moving to one of the big five leagues. “I'm going to miss the Celtic fans, for sure, because they made me feel at home right away. Every time I walked on the street it was, 'Hey Frimpong!', so I'm going to miss that.”

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