Liverpool Signs Jeremy Jacquet for £60m: A New Defensive Leader

Liverpool’s defensive future walked through the door on Wednesday, and his name is Jeremy Jacquet.

The 20-year-old French centre-back has officially completed his £60m move from Rennes, passed fit after shoulder surgery and cleared to start pre-season with Andoni Iraola’s squad later this month. The deal, agreed back in January, now makes him the second most expensive defender in Liverpool’s history, behind only Virgil van Dijk.

A £60m bet on the next leader

Liverpool will pay an initial £55m, with a further £5m tied up in add-ons. That figure underlines how the club view Jacquet: not as a project to be hidden away, but as a defender expected to grow quickly into the heart of Iraola’s back line.

He arrives on a five-year contract with an option for a sixth, a long-term commitment that places him directly in the mix with Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni and captain Van Dijk. The Dutchman, fresh from a round-of-32 World Cup exit with the Netherlands, is expected to be part of the club’s summer tour of the United States.

Jacquet knows exactly what this move represents.

“I feel really good, the first impressions are good and I am very happy to start here,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “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.”

The dream comes with weight. Liverpool fought off heavy interest in January, most notably from Chelsea, to land him. Inside the club, there is a clear belief they have secured one of Europe’s standout young defenders – and Jacquet, by all accounts, is desperate to work alongside Van Dijk, who turns 35 this month and remains the reference point for any centre-back walking into Anfield.

From operating table to AXA pitch

The move was agreed on deadline day in the winter window. Within days, Liverpool’s new signing was on the treatment table.

Jacquet’s season with Rennes ended abruptly in early February when he fell awkwardly during a 3-1 defeat to Lens in Ligue 1. He left the pitch in obvious pain, and scans confirmed the worst: shoulder surgery required, campaign over.

Liverpool stuck to the plan.

The defender went under the knife a few weeks later and has spent the intervening months on an individually tailored programme. While his team-mates at Rennes finished the season, Jacquet used his summer break to accelerate his recovery, working back onto the pitch before his arrival at the AXA Training Centre.

Now he reports fully rehabilitated, ready to step straight into Iraola’s first pre-season as Liverpool manager rather than easing his way back.

Building a new defensive core

Jacquet’s arrival continues a deliberate pattern. Eleven months ago, Liverpool paid just under £30m to sign Giovanni Leoni from Parma, convinced they had captured the best young defender in Italy. Now they believe they have done the same with France.

The pair have yet to share a pitch in red. Leoni’s Liverpool career stalled almost immediately when he suffered an ACL injury on his debut against Southampton in the Carabao Cup last September. His timeline remains uncertain, though the 19-year-old has been back in the gym at the AXA Centre for some time. Iraola is expected to provide an update on his progress this month.

If both hit their ceiling, Liverpool’s succession plan at centre-back starts to look very deliberate: Van Dijk the standard, Gomez the versatile senior option, Leoni and Jacquet the two blue-chip heirs from Italy and France.

One in, one out

On the day Liverpool confirmed Jacquet, another chapter quietly closed.

Real Madrid formally completed the signing of Ibrahima Konate, who leaves Anfield as a free agent. Liverpool had been locked in talks with the France international’s camp for close to two years but failed to reach an agreement, opening the door for the La Liga giants to move in without a fee.

Konate’s departure strips experience from the core of the defence. Jacquet’s arrival, in contrast, injects youth, cost and expectation in equal measure.

Liverpool have gambled before on a centre-back reshaping their future. Van Dijk did it almost overnight. Jacquet will not be asked to replicate that impact immediately, but the price tag and the timing of this move leave little doubt: the next version of Liverpool’s back line is being built now, and the young Frenchman has been signed to stand at the centre of it.