Liverpool have agreed to sign Jeremy Jacquet for £60 millio from Rennes.
Jeremy Jacquet has been told that he still needs to improve two areas of his game ahead of joining Liverpool.
The Reds have brokered a deal to sign the centre-back from Rennes at the end of the season. Liverpool will pay a fee of £55 million plus £5 million in add-ons.
It means that Jacquet will become the second most expensive defender in Anfield history. That is despite him being only aged 20 and making a total of 31 appearances for Rennes so far.
Jacquet’s performances for the French side this season have been eye-catching, though. In addition, Premier League rivals Chelsea were keen to sign him but he instead opted for Liverpool.
French journalist Erik Bielderman has watched Jacquet’s progress in the formative stages of his career. While he has plenty of attributes, the former Clermont loanee will need to add muscle mass to get up to the physical challenges of the Premier League. Jacquet also needs to cut out some lapses of concentration.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Bielderman said: “It's a clever bet in terms of the quality of the player. It's a huge price for the French market. Maybe for Liverpool, it's gambling money but for us, it's the money you normall buy a world-class players which this is not so far the case.
“But he is a very promising central defender, very skilful. He was a midfielder so he's very good passing short, medium and long-range balls. He is a one-club boy but had two loans with Clermont when they were fighting to save their status in Ligue 1. They got relegated with him then he was back at Clermont in the second division.
“He has some very positive points. I'd say he's very good at tackle, good vision, is quick and tall. These are positive positives. As he's a tall man, he's quite physically a bit light to me. He's under 80kg so I do believe he will have to work hard on his physical body for the challenge. That is one point he might have to work on.
“The second point is that, as a young, promising player, he sometimes has a lack of concentration. During a game, he can be a bit volatile, that is something part of a young player who is a French under-21 international and had half-a-season as a first-team player.”
Bielderman was then asked how Jacquet’s game compares with Leny Yoro, who joined Manchester United for £52 million in 2024 from Lille when he was aged 18. Jacquet is more of a ‘complete player’ and been compared to Lauren Blanc in the latter stages of the World Cup winner’s career.
Bielderman added: “We do have a more complete player to me. I don't think he has the same physical power but as an ex-midfielder, he can bring something. 25 years ago, we had Laurent Blanc who finished as a central defender and can have this kind of quality football.
“He needs to work on his physicality compared to Yoro and he will work on his physical power and Liverpool will know what to expect. You will have to be a bit patient. When you have [Ibrahima] Konate and [Virgil] Van Dijk, you have to be patient.”
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