New £60m signing Jeremy Jacquet hands Andoni Iraola a major injury boost, taking to Instagram to prove his fitness ahead of reporting for Liverpool pre-season.
It has been a whirlwind opening three weeks for new Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola. As the Spaniard maps out his first pre-season on Merseyside, the club is undergoing a massive squad reshaping following high-profile movements and structural shifts.
While previous generations of footballers who aren’t involved in international tournaments might have spent the off season June/July on a beach, However the modern era demands an entirely different standard.
The summer off-season is no longer a period of total shutdown it is a meticulously managed block of physical optimisation. Nowhere is that clearer than in the camp of Liverpool’s incoming £60 million centre-back, Jeremy Jacquet.
The 20-year-old Frenchman, signed from Rennes on a long-term contract back in January before finishing out the campaign in Ligue 1, took to Instagram on Wednesday evening to send a crystal-clear message to the Anfield coaching staff which really if you read between the lines he is stating “I am ready to hit the ground running.”
Set to the heavy bass of a French rap track and kitted out in Les Bleus’ national training gear, Jacquet was filmed putting himself through grueling individual fitness drills.
More importantly for Liverpool’s medical department, who had been sweating over his recovery, he showed no signs of discomfort while weaving through cones and executing sharp passing practice.
The club had harbored quiet anxieties that their new starlet would arrive on Merseyside carrying the baggage of a nasty dislocated shoulder suffered in February. The injury prematurely ended his season with Rennes after 18 top-flight appearances this term, halting a highly productive campaign that followed a successful development loan at Clermont Foot.
Yet, the signs coming out of his personal camp are overwhelmingly positive. Jacquet has taken matters into his own hands, employing a private performance coach to ensure his transition to English football isn’t delayed by rehabilitation.
Choosing Anfield over Stamford Bridge
Jacquet’s determination to be sharp from day one stems from a refreshing self-awareness. The towering defender, who won a spot in the Team of the Tournament during France’s run to the U19 European Championship final in 2024, knows exactly what he wants and he wasn’t prepared to let his career stall in a bloated squad elsewhere like Chelsea who are now managed by Liverpool legend Xabi Alonso.
It is a massive investment that represents the second highest fee the Reds have ever paid for a defender, eclipsed only by the £75 million acquisition of Virgil van Dijk in 2018.
In a recent interview with Ouest-France the defender spoke on his decision
“I know my potential, I know how people talk about me, but I’m not going to put pressure on myself to know where I’ll end up. I want to play my football and enjoy the moment. I’m going to follow my own path; I don’t know how it will end, but I think I’m off to a good start. I have no doubt that things will go well.
I think my life will change because I’ll be seen as a Liverpool player, playing in the Champions League, potentially a starter.” he said.
Unsurprisingly, the sight of a 6ft 3in French powerhouse broadcasting his peak physical condition has ignited the Liverpool fanbase across social media.
The hype is substantial, but so is the talent. Next month, the talking stops, and the real work begins on the pitches of the AXA Training Centre. Jeremy Jacquet has already given himself a head start.