JEREMIE FRIMPONG has admitted he is driven to success – by memories of standing a bus stops.
The Celtic sensation has hit the ground running since his deadline-day arrival from Manchester City this season.
But the 19-year-old Dutch defender recalls the times when it took him three buses to get to training at the English giants’ academy.
Frimpong, speaking to the media while at the Hoops’ mid-winter training base in Dubai, said: “That was tough for me and my family, as well.
“There was one time when we finished training at Platt Lane sports complex in Manchester. All the guys got in the cars of their parents to go home nice and warm and dry.
“I was just wearing my Manchester City jumper and it was pouring with rain. We were at the bus stop and there were no covers.
“All I could see were friends in their cars going past. And there I am at the bus stop. You use that as an incentive.
“Thankfully, I’m driving now, so those days have gone. It’s all good.”
ON THE MOVE…Jeremie Frimpong and James Forrest during a training routine in Dubai.
Frimpong laughed: “I did my lessons in Anniesland and passed in Glasgow. I kept failing before. I did a few tests in Manchester and I passed at the fifth time of asking.
“Since then, I’ve dropped a couple of players off in town and they seem very impressed.
“I also get people shouting: ‘Oh my days,’ a lot because I said that after the Betfred Cup Final.
“For me, it’s just like a normal thing to say. I’ve always said it. Now I hear it from others and it’s funny.”
Frimpong iwon his first medal before playing 10 first team games when he played in the 1-0 Betfred League Cup Final last month – where he also marked the occasion by being red-carded in the 64th minute.
The sending-off wasn’t on to-do list and there was also the disappointment of the 2-1 loss to Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox side in the Premiership just before the turn of the year.
He added: “We were upset, but in football you win some, you lose some.
“There is nothing we can do about that now, so we have just got to look forward and keep going.
“Of course, it was very upsetting to get beaten by Rangers, but we just have to look forward to the next game now.”
