Jeremy Jacquet has earned plenty of plaudits following his impressive start to life at Liverpool, and France legend Thierry Henry has now weighed in on his rapid rise
Thierry Henry has offered his opinion
Thierry Henry has offered his opinion(Image: CBS Sports)
France legend Thierry Henry has shared his views on Jeremy Jacquet's rapid rise, including the defender's strong start to the season with Liverpool.
The Reds agreed a deal with the player's former club Rennes back in January, and he formally completed the move in the summer. Despite missing a large chunk of preseason through injury, Jacquet has been a standout performer under Andoni Iraola so far.
He has started alongside Virgil van Dijk in all five of Liverpool's Premier League matches to date. He also started the Champions League win over Atletico Madrid and came on as a substitute in the Carabao Cup triumph over Tottenham.
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His strong start to the campaign certainly caught the attention of new France head coach Zinedine Zidane, and Jacquet earned his first call-up to the senior national team.
After he was an unused substitute in the narrow Nations League win over Turkey, Jacquet played the full match against Belgium on Monday night, which Les Bleus narrowly won 1-0.
Henry, who was familiar with the player, having coached the French national team at youth level, is not surprised to see Jacquet already succeeding with Liverpool. He also outlined why he believes the defender has what it takes in the long term.
French defender Jeremy Jacquet in action during the UEFA Nations League match against Belgium
French defender Jeremy Jacquet in action during the UEFA Nations League match against Belgium(Image: Photo by MARCEL VAN DORST/EYE4IMAGES/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
"[His reputation] it's always been very high," Henry said in an interview with Betway. "When I was the coach of the under-21s I wanted to call him up, he was only 16 or 17, but he didn’t come because he had to take his exams.
"As much as he is concentrated on football, he was also concentrated on getting his degrees. He’s very on-point in his head, and his family knows what he needs to do and how he can be successful.
"People told me that he has always been seen as 'the guy,' but it doesn’t always work that way. Many times I’ve seen players who were ‘the guy’ at that age turn out not to be the guy, while sometimes it does go the other way.
"You can see that he already understands what he needs to do, especially in the physical part of the game. It also helps if you play alongside Virgil.
"But am I surprised with him dealing with the level of expectation? No, not really, because he was always in that situation in the youth system in France."
France has two games remaining during the international break against Italy, as well as a return fixture against Belgium. How much Jacquet plays across those matches remains to be seen, but Liverpool will be desperate to see him return fully fit and ready to hit the ground running ahead of a condensed run of games.
Liverpool takes on Manchester City at Anfield in the Premier League immediately after the break. The team's upcoming Champions League matches also include meetings with LASK and Villarreal, but with seven games in the space of three weeks, Iraola cannot afford to lose Jacquet to injury.