Oh my days… what you see is what you get with this refreshingly honest, down to earth and family based Celtic youngster.
In discussions with the Daily Mail Jeremie Frimpong opens up on how he remains level headed and talks about the help and support he gets from family, team mates and his religious faith. He’s certainly keeping himself level headed and not getting swept away with fame and adulation as a Celtic first team regular.
And if he keeps playing like he did against Hamilton and firing crosses into the box or scoring more goals, he’ll be a regular for some time.
Frimpong has spoken before about the hardships his family faced and the sacrifices made to make sure he was successful in his bid to play professional football. His family moved from Amsterdam to Manchester in search of better things, it seems those hard years are beginning to pay off. He signed for Celtic from Manchester City on a 4 year deal last September recognising his playing time at City would be limited at best. He’s certainly making the most of the opportunity with the Hoops.
He had his Celtic first team debut against Partick Thistle last September and made a huge impression then with his performance in a 5-0 victory. Fans, the media and the playing squad at the Hoops started to pay attention to this new youngster, both in recognising his abilities and in welcoming him to the first team squad.
Frimpong remembers his first meeting with his team-mates. He says:
"‘I just clicked with them right away. I am a happy guy. I just walked in and said: “I am Jeremie”.’"
He goes on to talk more about his many questions to the squad for help and their terrific response and determination to provide him with whatever support he needs. It certainly sounds very much as though he has been fully welcomed to the Celtic family all round.
It’s his religious approach which may come as a slight surprise, based on that not being typical behaviour for a youngster these days, never mind one in the public eye with a disposable income which could cover all form of tempting distractions. It’s certainly helped him settle in to life at a new club and living in a new city.
"‘I am a really religious man,’ he says. ‘If you want to go to get something, God will always be with you. I have that faith. I believe in that and it keeps me going.’‘I have found a church in Glasgow and will go there post-Covid.’"
His faith has also helped him manage some potentially difficult events in particular matches and the outcomes of those. For example, getting carried off injured against Kilmarnock or his sending off in the League cup final against the Rangers.
"‘Honestly, I don’t look back on that all,’ he says. ‘Being sent off is part of football. You can’t dwell on it because you have to look at the next match. We won at the end, so why am I going to think about a red card?’"
Frimpong knows his place and he readily recognises the family support in helping him achieve success.
"‘There is strength in my family,’ he says. There is a pride, too. ‘My mum did well. She knew I always wanted to be a footballer and it puts a smile on her face when she sees me now, but it puts a smile on mine, too.’‘You are making your mum happy, that’s everything. She comes and visits me but she doesn’t go to the games. She doesn’t understand football. She just stays in my house. She says Glasgow is too cold.’"
As in most instances, Mum’s seem to know best!
We saw all this in practice as he and Celtic has kicked off the new season superbly with a great performance in the opening win over Hamilton Accies and a goal for Frimpong too. He was delighted as reported by the Daily Record afterwards.
"“I’m really happy the season has started and I was delighted with the team performance.”“It’s not like me to get a goal! It was a goal of mine this season, scoring more and creating assists, so that was great.“"
And he’ll have delighted Celtic fans with his focus on his own performance and team and dismissing the Rangers.
"“We don’t care about what anyone else does. We just went out to win. I don’t really care if Rangers lose or win, we just focus on ourselves and winning.”"
Frimpong has made a terrific start to his football career at Celtic with help and support from his family and team mates. It’s terrific to see how grounded he is based on that and the enjoyment he gets from playing which we can all share.
And for the religion, well, isn’t it also refreshing not to see any reference or questions about which church or religion it is involved? Keep the faith, any of them are fine.
A great start all round to a new season and his career.