Liverpool are on the verge of making only their second centre-back signing since 2021 as Jeremy Jacquet prepares to become a Red.
Sadly, the Frenchman is not due to arrive immediately, but will instead link up with Arne Slot’s squad for the beginning of pre-season this summer.
Jacquet is being seen in many quarters as a direct replacement for the out-of-contract Ibrahima Konate, giving Liverpool a French for French swap in their back line. However, in the view of Rousing The Kop, this simply does not add up.
How good a signing do you think Jeremy Jacquet will be?
It takes a lot to become a starter for Liverpool FC at centre-back, just ask the dozens of experienced professionals who have tried and failed badly.
To ask a 20-year-old with only 55 senior appearances to his name to come in and replace a seasoned France international and Premier League winner would be sheer lunacy. Jacquet may have the talent to become a regular starter in the next two or three years, but it should not be the plan right now. Liverpool must have something else up their sleeve.
Liverpool have to sign another centre-back
In an ideal world, Liverpool would have brought forward their plans to bolster the defence to this winter. Konate was brilliant against Newcastle on Saturday, but so much of the Reds’ season is riding on both he and Virgil van Dijk staying fit and in form.
Nevertheless, the knowledge that Jacquet is coming in should at least settle the fanbase down, even if it does mean Konate is more likely to leave.
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With question marks continuing over Joe Gomez, Jacquet, Van Dijk and Giovanni Leoni are set to be Arne Slot’s options for 2026/27. While that holds plenty of promise for the future, Liverpool need another one who can slot in immediately.
It is not going to happen before Monday’s transfer deadline, but the Reds must bring in a more experienced defender who can take the pressure off Jacquet and Leoni to hit the ground running.
Ironically, Marc Guehi would have been a perfect candidate here, but he is not the only one. Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck has been linked, and the German feels like someone who could fit the bill.
Make a bold prediction about Liverpool’s exciting new defensive duo 👇
Whether it is Schlotterbeck or someone else, though, Liverpool have to act. The final play may be to try and secure the future of Konate at the eleventh hour, but that gets more unlikely with every passing day.
Liverpool’s post-Virgil van Dijk plan becomes clear
Even if Liverpool decide that Jacquet will complete their options for 2026/27, they are going to have to make another move soon after regardless.
Van Dijk may still stay beyond his current contract, which expires in 2027, but he is getting older and will not go on forever.
By signing Jacquet and Leoni, Liverpool look like they have a clear plan for how to replace the captain in the medium to long-term.
But you cannot have only two centre-back options, and with Gomez fairly certain to leave by 2027, there will likely need to be two more signings within the next 18 months.
Not all of these should be young players, and it would be wise for Liverpool to bring in a stop-gap defender who can bridge the time between Van Dijk stepping back and Jacquet and Leoni coming forward. This exciting French talent is a good start, but Liverpool’s defensive rebuild should be far from finished.
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