Liverpool Finally Buy the Centre Back They Need—12 Months Too Late

Liverpool had to fend off Chelsea to seal a deal for the future.

Jérémy Jacquet has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League this year. | Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

Liverpool have confirmed the acquisition of Jérémy Jacquet. The deal was raced through ahead of the winter window’s deadline on Monday evening, yet Arne Slot will not be able to call upon the talented French defender until the summer.

Jacquet had been a notable target for Chelsea in January. Terms between the player and the Blues were reportedly struck but Rennes held firm on an asking price which exceeded the £56.3 million ($77.1 million) that Manchester City paid for Jérémy Doku in 2023. No arrangement could be found, opening the door for Liverpool to plan for the future.

The Reds have agreed to pay up to £60 million for the 20-year-old, according to The Athletic. Rennes are guaranteed £55 million with a further £5 million available in add-ons as Jacquet signs a deal that will keep him at Liverpool until the summer of 2031.

Snapping up a towering France Under-21 international who has caught the eye of Europe’s elite is something for Liverpool to celebrate, but it may come too late.

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Liverpool Paying the Price for Summer Hesitancy

Marc Guéhi was on his way to Liverpool last summer. | Marc Atkins/Getty Images

When the season has been wrapped up, Liverpool’s doomed defence of their Premier League title may very well come back to Marc Guéhi—and Igor Julio. Crystal Palace’s failure to secure a deal for the Brazilian centre back or any other defensive alternative ultimately compelled them to back out of any arrangement Liverpool had for Guéhi on Deadline Day in last summer’s window.

The England international had already completed part of his medical, a deal sheet had been submitted and the triumphant social media post was getting sketched up by the time it was confirmed that Liverpool had not gotten their man. But it didn’t have to be so dramatic.

Emboldened by Guéhi’s dwindling contract and Palace’s public admission that they would be forced to accept a suitable fee for their captain rather than risk losing him for free next summer, the Reds played hard ball. There were no rival suitors to up the bidding—the injury crisis which would force Manchester City to act in January had not yet formed—and so Liverpool sat on their initial offer of £35 million.

It’s impossible to say if Palace would have agreed to a deal sooner had the Reds upped their offer—and no club is going to bid against themselves—yet the Eagles proved in the winter window that they are in no financial position to turn down an attractive offer for any of their players.

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Liverpool’s Overworked Centre Backs

Centre back will be a priority area for Liverpool in the summer. | Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images

Player	2024–25 Average Minutes Played per Week of Season	2025–26 Average Minutes Played per Week of Season
Virgil van Dijk	139.8	144.8
Ibrahima Konaté	96.2	115.3

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Without Guéhi, Liverpool’s summer spend still stood in excess of £400 million, but they went into the season short at centre back. Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk formed the first-choice pairing, but Giovanni Leoni was always an inexperienced option as cover even before he tore his ACL on a luckless debut. Joe Gomez, the only other senior centre back, has proven to be just as injury riddled as ever.

Konaté’s difficulties this season are only natural. Slot unhelpfully admitted that the Frenchman “has been a bit too much at the crime scene” this term—yet that’s chiefly because he is always on duty. It may not be a coincidence that Konaté’s best performance of the season came after he had an extended spell away from the first team.

Even Van Dijk has lost his imperious sheen this term. Yet, if anything, it’s a wonder he hasn’t been more ragged after starting 34 matches across all competitions at the age of 34.

Slot was recently derided for theorising that Liverpool owed part of their Premier League triumph last season to a reduced work load following their Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain. In light of the struggles his smaller squad have suffered during this term’s intensive demands, it’s hardly a crazy conclusion.

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What Jeremy Jacquet Will Bring to Liverpool

Chelsea were negotiating for Jérémy Jacquet. | Franco Arland/Getty Images

At 20 and with only 18 months of top-flight football under his belt, Jacquet does not boast the experience Guéhi could command. This is a deal with the future in mind, but the youngster’s present is still pretty promising.

As Liverpool can attest, availability is a crucial quality and suspension is the only thing that has sidelined Jacquet since he returned to Rennes following a loan spell at Clermont Foot for 2024. Rennes are one of Ligue 1’s more patient sides in possession, routinely stringing together long skeins of passes which often lead to an attempt on goal—Jacquet is crucial in this regard, very much comfortable driving forward from the back.

The 20-year-old is just as front-footed out of possession—although this may be a consequence of his common role as the right-sided centre back in a three; he can jump forward in the knowledge that two of his teammates are sweeping up behind him. At 6'2" and boasting a prodigious leap, Jacquet rarely needs a safety net when contesting aerial duels.

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Most Expensive Defenders of All Time

Player	Move	Fee
1. Joško Gvardiol	RB Leipzig to Man City	€90 million
2. Harry Maguire	Leicester to Man Utd	€87 million
3. Matthijs de Ligt	Ajax to Juventus	€85.5 million
4. Virgil van Dijk	Southampton to Liverpool	€84.65 million
5. Wesley Fofana	Leicester to Chelsea	€80.4 million
6. Lucas Hernández	Atlético Madrid to Bayern Munich	€80 million
7. Rúben Dias	Benfica to Man City	€71.6 million
8. Jéremy Jacquet	Rennes to Liverpool	€69.3 million*
9. Achraf Hakimi	Inter to PSG	€68 million
10. Matthijs de Ligt	Juventus to Bayern Munich	€67 million

* Data via Transfermarkt. Jacquet fee assumes all add-ons of £60 million deal are triggered at today’s exchange rates.

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There is always a sense of unknown when any player is whisked into the combative world of the Premier League—as several of Liverpool’s signings last summer have proven. Yet, Ligue 1 is arguably the best breeding ground for English top-flight clubs given its inherent physicality. In fact, both Mauricio Pochettino and Bernardo Silva—two figures familiar with the demands of both divisions—have dubbed Ligue 1 even more gruelling than the Premier League.

France’s top flight prides itself on an ability to produce young gems—so much so that the division’s official slogan is “the league of talents.” It appears as though Liverpool have snagged one of the most promising, if a little late.

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