Neil Lennon has spoken of his disappointment at Jeremie Frimpong’s move to Bayer Leverkusen and said the club made him an offer to keep him at Parkhead for the next 2 to 3 years.
The Celtic boss was speaking about the move and couldn’t hide his hurt but does say the Hoops are in the market for a right back following the young Dutchman’s departure, “Yes, I feel a bit let down because we felt we could progress him further and we offered him a new deal which would have kept him here for another two or three years but it was down to the player’s personal ambition.
“Whether that’s the right way for him remains to be seen. For us, though, from a business point of view – and maybe from a footballing point of view as well – when a player’s mind is set like that it’s very difficult to bring him back round.
“It didn’t come as a surprise at all. This has been in the offing for the past couple of months. We offered the player talks for a new deal a few months back but he declined and made it clear that he wanted to leave, despite our best efforts to keep him.
“We’ve received a very robust offer for him and, after talking about it at length, we think it’s the best thing for the club going forward.
“Obviously, we’re now looking to bring in a right-back to play in that position.”