Emmanuel Frimpong set to leave Russia for Sweden

Ghana midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong is set to leave Russian top-flight side Arsenal Tula to join an unnamed club in Sweden after the former player of English Premier League side Arsenal clashed with his club's coach.

Frimpong’s contract with Tula lasts for one-and-half years more, it’s unlikely that Frimpong will play for the Russian club again.

The exit follows a couple of hectic days where Frimpong and 12 other players were demoted to the second team, which was announced on the club’s official website.

Speaking to Championat, Arsenal’s general director Dmitry Balashov confirmed that Frimpong would leave the club, and that the midfielder was close to joining an unnamed Swedish club on a loan for the rest of the season.

“We have agreed with Frimpong that he leaves the club,” Balashov said.

“We are in dialogue with a Swedish club, whose name I cannot mention. The loan will last until the summer.”

A spokesman of Frimpong later revealed to Sport-Express that the Ghanaian had earlier been suspended following a fall out with head coach Sergey Kiriakov, while also adding that his client was still ready to play for the club if they wanted him.

For Frimpong, the departure from Arsenal will be his second controversial exit from a Russian club. Last year, he was released by FC Ufa following a stint plagued by injuries caused by the artificial pitch at the home ground Dinamo Stadium, but in truth there were probably more than just injuries behind the contract termination.

As Andrew Flint pointed out back then, Frimpong was constantly surrounded by controversies, from being sent off for showing the middle finger to fans racially abusing him to grabbing his teammates private parts during goal celebrations.

On the pitch, the highlights have been few and far between, and since Frimpong moved to Russia before the 2014/2015 season, he has looked more concerned with nurturing his online image as Dench, regularly posting funny pictures on Instagram, and chatting with Arsenal fans on Twitter than rekindling his once so promising career.

The midfielder, who was once praised highly by Arsene Wenger, turned 25 earlier this month, and although he still has a lot of potential, it doesn’t seem like he’ll ever reached the highs expected when he got his Barclays Premier League debut at the age of 19.