Jeremy Jacquet has made an outstanding start to life at Liverpool, and has now gained international recognition for France, with his list of admirers growing by the day
Liverpool's French defender #05 Jeremy Jacquet (L) warms up with Liverpool's Dutch defender #04 Virgil van Dijk (R) before the pre-season friendly football match between Liverpool and Como at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on August 16, 2026. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
Jeremy Jacquet has firmly established himself as Virgil van Dijk's new center-back partner at Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)
You can understand why Liverpool fans went into this season with some trepidation about Jeremy Jacquet.
His summer arrival was set in stone after a deal was agreed with Rennes back in February, but the plan seemed to be for him to come in as back-up to Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate. So, when the latter made a U-turn and decided against signing a new contract at Anfield, suddenly the 21-year-old was being thrust straight into the spotlight.
And the summer didn’t feel all that promising, with Jacquet missing most of the action in pre-season, only making his first appearance in the final friendly against Como. Surely he wouldn’t be ready to step into the cauldron of Premier League football?
How quickly he put those fears to bed though. Less than two months into the season, and most Reds fans are now wondering whether they might have the signing of the season on their hands.
It is still early days - not only in his Liverpool journey, but his career as a whole - but the signs point to the club having picked up a diamond whose best years are still well ahead of him.
Anyone still doubting his credentials only needs to ask Zinedine Zidane, who knows a thing or two about great players.
“Very good. Very, very good,” the new France boss said when asked about Jacquet’s performance against Italy.
PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 02: Alessandro Bastoni of Italy competes for the ball with Jeremy Jacquet of France during the UEFA Nations League 2026/27 group phase match between France and Italy at Stade de France on October 02, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Claudio Villa - FIGC/FIGC via Getty Images)
Jeremy Jacquet wrestles with Alessandro Bastoni during France's draw with Italy(Image: Getty Images)
“Brave. He wasn’t afraid to come out a long way. Very good in the duels. He was, once again, very good. I said it four times.”
Jacquet has now made the step up to one of the Premier League’s top clubs AND one of the world’s best international sides which has an embarrassment of riches in virtually every position, and all the while he’s made it look fairly effortless.
If anything, his performances only seem to be getting better. His last outing for Liverpool against Bournemouth was so good in fact that Jamie Carragher had to issue an apology while live on air.
"You look at someone and think 'I don't want to get too carried away, because it's only six games and he's a kid'," said Carragher.
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"But you're looking and thinking 'he looks really good'. And I said something like this (on commentary), the Liverpool team is made up of lots of ins and outs over the last couple of years, and in the main the players who've come in are probably not better than those who've gone out. Hence why we've dropped off a little bit. But he (Jacquet) looks a big improvement on Ibrahima Konate.”
The list of people already wowed by Jacquet goes on, with Gary Neville also signing his praises this season, so it’s easy to see why Liverpool may not be too worried about Konate’s exit after all, having seemingly already found an upgrade on him - which could be bad news for the former Red at international level.
And Virgil van Dijk said it all when he presented Jacquet with his first player of the match award after the win at Bournemouth, declaring it “one of many”.
Replacing the iconic Dutchman, whose contract expires at the end of the season, is always going to be a daunting task. In Jacquet though, Liverpool may have already found the perfect choice, and not just as a defender, but as a leader.