The 25-year-old full-back has been left out by new Netherlands coach Xavi Hernandez for the Elftal's Nations League match against Serbia on Sunday evening (6pm). That is according to the official squad list submitted by the Dutch FA to UEFA.
Frimpong had already failed to feature in the 1-1 draw with Germany last Thursday. The right-back was in the Netherlands squad but stayed on the bench for the full 90 minutes. Against Serbia, he has now missed out on the 23-man squad altogether.
For Frimpong, the axing is the latest bitter low in a sporting crisis that has now dragged on for around a year. After winning the domestic double of the German championship and the DFB Cup with Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2024, Liverpool secured the lightning-quick right-back in the summer of 2025. The Reds paid €40 million to the Bundesliga club.
Under former Reds manager Arne Slot, who had brought him to Anfield as his preferred signing, Frimpong initially looked certain to lock down the right-back spot in a back four, but persistent thigh problems first held him back. He missed 10 of the first 16 Premier League matchdays through injury. By the turn of the year, he had managed only 11 appearances, one goal and one assist, in 27 possible competitive matches.
Getty ImagesHow many goal involvements did Jeremie Frimpong collect in his first Liverpool season?
Once he was finally able to play more regularly in the new year after recovering from injury, he still only rarely impressed. In Slot's defensive back four, at Leverkusen he had still operated as a right wing-back in a back three, the Dutchman repeatedly showed glaring weaknesses in his defending and positional play. He also lacked the hoped-for cutting edge going forward, and by the end of the season his record stood at a meagre two goals and two assists in 35 appearances.
In October, immediately before Frimpong was sidelined for a longer spell with his thigh problems, former Reds professional Don Hutchison therefore said: "I've watched every Liverpool game I could this season so far. And in some of them, like the one against Southampton (2-1 in the EFL Cup at the end of September, editor's note), he just kept giving the ball away. Simple passes were going anywhere and his confidence is slipping away more and more."
Even then, he urged LFC coach Slot to leave out the Dutchman and look for alternatives instead. "I would start (Conor) Bradley, definitely. Frimpong isn't even close to the starting XI with his current performances," Hutchison said.
Why did Jeremie Frimpong miss the 2026 World Cup with the Netherlands?
IMAGOLast summer, Frimpong then paid the price for his poor Liverpool season when he missed out on a place in the Netherlands' World Cup squad. Instead, former Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman trusted Jurrien Timber (Arsenal) and Denzel Dumfries (Real Madrid) for the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Things are still not really running smoothly at club level either. After new Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola initially used him as his first-choice right-back at the start of the season, new signing Ronald Araujo, actually a natural centre-back, is now preferred there.
The bare numbers back up Iraola. Liverpool conceded six goals in four games with Frimpong in the starting XI. They have not let in a single goal in three matches with Araujo starting. A circumstance that former England international Danny Murphy also criticised recently.
Speaking to talkSport, he said "the full-backs" - meaning not only Frimpong but also his counterpart Milos Kerkez on the left - are "not good enough" for Liverpool's standards. "They aren't getting any better either, they just don't have it in them. They work hard, but the level of their crossing and their decision-making in the final third is poor."

