BBC pundit, Alan Hutton, has expressed his surprise at Jeremie Frimpong’s omission from Celtic’s Europa League squad because of his current form in an interview with Football Insider.
Frimpong, signed in the summer from Manchester City, has surprised everyone with just how quickly he has broken into the Hoops first-team given the quality of other players signed to replace Mikael Lustig.
So what has Hutton said?
Hutton was full of praise for the Netherlands youth international when asked about his omission:
“For someone so young, he’s showing great promise. Every time I seem to be singing his praises”.
“He’s just going from strength to strength. He’s really taken his chance with both hands and grasped it. It’s a shame he missed out on the European squad. It would have been good for him to be tested at that level”.
“It shows you how quickly he’s come on this season that he’s not been included in the European squad. He’s probably for me, the number one right-back. It’s brilliant to see”.
So is Hutton correct?
Despite various examples of pundits/journalists not knowing the rules and regulations (remember Kieran Tierney being “left out”), Hutton realises that – even though he is under 21 – Frimpong can only play for Celtic in the Europa League if he is included on list A and the main 25 man squad.
UEFA rules and regulations are complicated at the best of times and there are several ways in which players can be registered for European competition. A lists, B lists, associated trained players, club trained and locally trained players are several of the various categories in which a player can be classified.
Frimpong, born after 1998, hasn’t been at the club long enough (two years) to be able to be registered indefinitely on list B and if needed, drafted into list A up to 24 hours before a match.
Neil Lennon will see Frimpong as his “go to man” in domestic football when possession statistics are higher and Celtic spend a lot more time attacking. He can still be used to rotate at right-back just by sitting out the fixtures in continental football, his from dictates that he will see plenty game time between now and the end of the season.
Should Frimpong be in the Europa League squad?
Yes
No
Frimpong has made a huge impression on both Lennon and the Parkhead faithful and shouldn’t take the decision to heart with plenty of time on his hands, and with Moritz Bauer only on loan, he should expect to be in the main squad next season, if, he continues his remarkable rise to prominence.