Liverpool are looking at Barcelona defender Jules Kounde as they reassess their right-back options, with growing concern over whether Jeremie Frimpong is the long-term answer on that side of defence. Frimpong only joined Liverpool last year in a £29.5 million move from Bayer Leverkusen, but his defensive reliability in a conventional back four has come under increasing scrutiny.
That scrutiny has intensified after Liverpool's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, a result that sharpened internal doubts about Frimpong's ability to hold down the role over a full season. His attacking qualities and overlapping threat remain valued, but the conversation around him has shifted toward what he offers without the ball.
Frimpong started Liverpool's opening two Premier League matches under Andoni Iraola, but he was then dropped for the next three domestic fixtures. During that spell, Liverpool kept three consecutive clean sheets, which only added to the sense that the team looked more secure defensively without him in the starting XI.
Conor Bradley's fitness issues have also complicated matters, leaving Liverpool with less certainty at right-back than they would ideally want. That makes the position more important in the short term and helps explain why the club is being linked with Kounde, even if Liverpool are still said to prefer a measured approach to recruitment.
Why Liverpool are rethinking the position
The key issue is not Frimpong's attacking output. It is whether his strengths translate cleanly to the role Liverpool want him to play in a traditional defensive structure. When a player is asked to balance constant forward runs with reliable one-v-one defending, the margin for error gets small quickly.
For Liverpool, the question is now whether Frimpong can become the answer long term or whether they need a different profile entirely. Kounde appears to be the player they are exploring most seriously as they look at next summer and beyond.
