Liverpool Signs Jeremy Jacquet: Future Defensive Star
Liverpool’s defensive future stepped through the door on Wednesday – and he’s walking in at full speed, not on the treatment table.
Jeremy Jacquet, the highly-rated centre-back from Rennes, has finally completed his £60m move to Anfield, a deal agreed back in January and now officially rubber-stamped just weeks before Andoni Iraola’s first pre-season gets under way. The numbers are stark: £55m up front, another £5m in add-ons, and the 20-year-old instantly becomes the second most expensive defender in Liverpool’s history, tucked in behind Virgil van Dijk.
Big fee. Big expectations. And, crucially for Liverpool, a clean bill of health.
From operating table to AXA pitch
When Liverpool shook hands with Rennes in the winter window, they knew they were backing potential rather than immediate availability. Jacquet’s season had been wrecked by a shoulder injury suffered in early February, when he fell awkwardly during Rennes’ 3-1 defeat to Lens and left the pitch in clear distress. Surgery followed a few weeks later. His campaign was over almost as soon as Liverpool had moved for him.
The club did not blink.
While others cooled, Liverpool doubled down, convinced by the defender’s profile and mentality. Over the summer, Jacquet has been working through an individually-tailored training programme, rebuilding strength and sharpness away from the spotlight. Those sessions have paid off. His rehabilitation is complete and he will report ready for a full pre-season at the AXA Training Centre later this month.
“I feel really good, the first impressions are good and I am very happy to start here,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. The words were simple, but the smile said the rest. “When I see the facilities, I can see myself there. I feel good here and I am very excited to get started. For me it’s a big dream, it’s a big club. A club like Liverpool, it’s a big dream for me.”
Learning next to a giant
Liverpool have handed Jacquet a five-year contract with an option for a sixth. That is not a speculative punt; it is a statement that he is expected to grow into the core of Iraola’s defence.
He will step into a centre-back unit headed by Van Dijk, with Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni also in the mix. Van Dijk, now 35 this month and coming off a World Cup exit with the Netherlands at the round-of-32 stage, is still expected to be on the club’s summer tour of the United States. For Jacquet, there could hardly be a better mentor.
Liverpool had to fight to get him. A string of European clubs circled in January, with Chelsea the most notable rival, but the defender chose Anfield. The chance to work alongside a two-time Premier League winner in Van Dijk and to grow inside a back line being reshaped for the next era clearly carried weight.
A new pairing in waiting
Jacquet arrives almost exactly 11 months after Liverpool moved for another teenage centre-back, Giovanni Leoni, signed from Parma for just under £30m. Inside the club, there is a firm belief they have secured two of the best young defenders in France and Italy.
Leoni’s story has been more cruel so far. He suffered an ACL injury on his debut against Southampton in the Carabao Cup last September and has been sidelined since. He has, though, been back in the gym at the AXA Training Centre for some time, and Iraola is expected to provide an update on his recovery this month.
If both hit their ceiling, Liverpool’s long-term central defensive pairing might already be in the building. For now, Jacquet will have to earn his minutes, scrap for them alongside Gomez and, when fit, Leoni, under a manager whose football demands intensity, aggression and bravery on the ball.
One in, one out
Jacquet’s first day as a Liverpool player coincided with the formal confirmation of a major departure. Real Madrid completed their move for Ibrahima Konaté, who leaves Anfield as a free agent after contract talks stretched over nearly two years without resolution.
Liverpool wanted to keep the France international but could not find an agreement, allowing Madrid to step in and take him to La Liga without a fee. It is a painful exit for the club in purely financial terms and removes a proven defender from Iraola’s options.
The response has not been timid. By investing heavily in Jacquet and previously in Leoni, Liverpool have made it clear they are prepared to absorb the loss of Konaté by fast-tracking the next generation.
The stage is set now. A 20-year-old who called Liverpool his “big dream” walks into a dressing room that has just lost one French defender to Madrid and is ready to shape another into the future of its back line. How quickly Jacquet turns promise into authority will go a long way to defining what Iraola’s Liverpool looks like in the years ahead.
