Jeremy Jacquet Observes Liverpool's Transition as Future Awaits
Jeremy Jacquet should be learning the rhythms of Rennes’ back line right now, feeling the strain of a long season in his legs. Instead, the 20-year-old is rehabbing a damaged shoulder and getting an early, very close look at the club that has bet £60 million on his future.
Unable to play, he travelled.
The young centre-back confirmed on social media that he was inside the Parc des Princes for Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, watching Arne Slot’s European champions control the tie yet leave with only a 2-0 win. For a defender about to step into that world, it was a revealing night: Liverpool dominant, but wasteful enough to leave the door ajar.
His post, a snapshot of the last few weeks, showed more than just a ticket stub. There were images of pool sessions, gym work, the slow grind back to full fitness. In one photo he wore Liverpool’s 2022/23 away kit, a small but pointed sign of where his head already is. The body is in rehab. The mind is at Anfield.
Jacquet’s operation took place in early March, but the damage came earlier. Rennes had already announced his planned move to Liverpool when he went down against Lens on February 7, forced off with a left shoulder injury. On March 3, the French club confirmed surgery was required, wishing him a speedy recovery and effectively drawing a line under his season. He is not expected to feature again before the summer.
That timing changes the complexion of his arrival. Liverpool knew they were buying potential; now they must also manage a recovery.
Slot’s defensive situation was complicated even before Jacquet signed. Ibrahima Konaté’s contract was due to expire this summer, raising the prospect of a major hole at the heart of the back four. Reports now suggest an agreement on an extension is close, despite a difficult eight months for the 26-year-old, and that would steady one side of the defence.
Other pillars are already on their way out. Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, two of the defining figures of Liverpool’s recent era, have had their end-of-season exits confirmed. Between them, they changed how the club attacked, how it ran games, how it saw itself. Their departures underline the scale of the transition about to hit Merseyside.
Jacquet belongs firmly to the next wave. His move follows last summer’s recruitment of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Hugo Ekitike, a cluster of signings that dragged the squad profile sharply younger. The Frenchman arrives as part of that same strategy: buy early, buy high, and grow a new core.
How quickly he can contribute will depend on that shoulder. Early months at Liverpool may be shaped as much by medical reports as by training performances, and Slot will have to balance patience with the need for immediate solidity.
For now, the spotlight sits elsewhere. Liverpool’s season tilts on Tuesday evening, when PSG come to Anfield with that 2-0 first-leg lead. The champions responded to the setback in Paris with a controlled 2-0 win over Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, a result that restored some rhythm and, crucially, confidence.
Rio Ngumoha and Salah scored the goals, both staking claims just days after watching the entire night unfold from the bench in France. Slot now has a selection call to make. Keep faith with the side that controlled large spells at the Parc des Princes, or inject the freshness and directness that Ngumoha and Salah bring from the start?
Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo also played their way into the conversation with strong displays against Fulham, adding to the sense that Liverpool’s best route back into the tie is intensity from every angle, every position. To overturn a two-goal deficit against PSG, they will need it.
Somewhere in the stands on Tuesday, or watching from a treatment room, Jacquet will see it all again. The noise, the pressure, the expectation that Liverpool’s defenders must live with every week.
Soon enough, that will be his job.
