Liverpool's New Defensive Cornerstone: Jeremy Jacquet

Liverpool have their new defensive cornerstone – and he arrives with a point to prove.

Jeremy Jacquet has finally walked through the doors at the AXA Training Centre, his £60m move from Rennes officially sealed on Wednesday, months after Liverpool first tied up the deal in January. The timing is deliberate. His shoulder is fixed, his rehab complete, and he will be thrown straight into Andoni Iraola’s first pre-season later this month.

For a 20-year-old centre-back, the numbers are striking. An initial £55m, with another £5m in add-ons, makes him the second most expensive defender in Liverpool’s history. Only Virgil van Dijk, the £75m benchmark from Southampton in 2018, sits above him in that particular hierarchy.

Jacquet knows exactly what he is walking into.

“I feel really good, the first impressions are good and I am very happy to start here,” he told Liverpoolfc.com, before lingering on what this move means to him. “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.”

That dream almost took him elsewhere. Liverpool had to fight off a pack of European suitors in the winter window, with Chelsea among the clubs pushing hardest. The lure of Anfield, the project being built, and the chance to learn next to Van Dijk tipped the balance. The Dutchman turns 35 this month, but his presence still shapes Liverpool’s defence and, for a young centre-back, his shadow is one worth stepping into.

The irony is that Jacquet’s Liverpool story nearly began with a long wait. Shortly after the agreement with Rennes was struck on deadline day earlier this year, he landed awkwardly in the second half of a 3-1 defeat to Lens in Ligue 1. He left the pitch in clear discomfort. The diagnosis was brutal: season over, surgery required.

Liverpool stuck to their plan.

Jacquet went under the knife a few weeks later, then disappeared into the quiet, unglamorous world of rehab. While Rennes finished their season without him, he spent his summer break working through an individually tailored programme, ticking off milestones on the training pitch rather than in competitive matches. That diligence means he will report for pre-season as a full participant, not a spectator.

He arrives on a five-year contract with an option for a sixth, ready to fight for minutes in a reshaped centre-back unit. Joe Gomez is there. So is Giovanni Leoni, the 19-year-old Italian signed from Parma for just under £30m last summer. Van Dijk, fresh from a round-of-32 World Cup exit with the Netherlands, is expected to be part of the club’s tour of the United States.

Liverpool believe they have stolen a march on the market. In Jacquet and Leoni, they are convinced they have secured the two best young central defenders from France and Italy. The theory is bold. The execution now moves to the training ground.

Leoni’s own story underlines the risk. His Liverpool career stalled almost as soon as it began, an ACL injury on his debut against Southampton in the Carabao Cup last September cutting him down before he had time to settle. He has been back in the gym at the AXA Centre for some time, edging his way back, with Iraola expected to give an update on his progress this month. If both youngsters hit their ceiling, Liverpool’s back line could be locked in for years.

There is another twist to the day Jacquet signed on. While one French defender arrived, another finally walked away.

Real Madrid formally completed the signing of Ibrahima Konaté, who leaves Liverpool as a free agent after the club failed to reach an agreement over a new deal despite talks stretching close to two years. For a player of his calibre to join the European champions for nothing will sting at Anfield, no matter how carefully the club had planned for the future.

That context only sharpens the stakes for Jacquet. He is not just another promising recruit; he is part of the answer to a major departure and a significant financial misstep.

The stage is set: a record price tag, a repaired shoulder, a legendary mentor in Van Dijk, and a new manager eager to shape a defence in his own image. Pre-season will be the first real look at whether Liverpool’s big bet at the back can anchor the next era – or whether the search for the heir to Van Dijk has only just begun.