Watching Jérémy Jacquet striding out of defence with the ball at his feet or pinging a diagonal pass to a team-mate on the other side of the pitch, it comes as no surprise to learn that Liverpool’s new £60million signing started out as a central midfielder.
As a youngster, Jacquet, who will arrive at Anfield in the summer, idolised Paul Pogba and during his formative footballing years at amateur club RC Joinville on the southeastern edge of Paris, he pictured himself following in the former Manchester United midfielder’s footsteps. But when he went on trial at Rennes, the coaches at the Brittany club’s celebrated youth academy had other ideas.
“I was a midfielder at Joinville,” Jacquet, 20, told L’Équipe last year. “During a trial at Rennes they told me, ‘Jérémy, play centre back.’ To begin with I didn’t really want to, because I wanted to play as a six. But I got over that. They knew football better than I did at that point, so I went along with it and it went well.”
The 6ft 3in centre back has the potential to become even more commanding in the air
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Initially held back by a succession of injuries linked to a sudden growth spurt, Jacquet came through the ranks at Rennes in a talented group that also included the Paris Saint-Germain winger Désiré Doué, the Tottenham Hotspur forward Mathys Tel and the Bayer Leverkusen centre back Jeanuël Belocian.
Very quickly identified as a central defender with enormous potential, he gained vital experience of senior football after going out on loan to Clermont Foot in January 2024. Despite Clermont’s relegation from Ligue 1 at the end of the season, Jacquet returned to the club months later, convinced that regular playing time in the unglamorous surroundings of the French second tier would be more beneficial to him than occasional top-flight cameos for Rennes.
Jacquet was recalled from his loan at Clermont, at a cost of nearly €1million, after Habib Beye was appointed head coach of an ailing Rennes team in January last year. Beye immediately introduced a new 3-5-2 formation and Jacquet has operated as his central centre back ever since, earning rave reviews in the French media for his athleticism, smart front-foot defending and calmness on the ball.
Tall, rangy and quick, Jacquet prides himself on his powers of anticipation, regularly stepping out of the Rennes back line to prevent dangerous opposition passes from reaching their target. He uses his height and his pace to dominate his opponents physically, often stepping across their path and using the outside of his right foot to nudge the ball away from them.
Jacquet is a natural athlete but admits he needs to curb some of his aggressive instincts
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Once in possession, his midfield heritage comes to the fore. He rarely — if ever — looks flustered with the ball at his feet and is particularly adept at slamming astute low passes into feet between the lines.
Asked to describe his style of play, he said: “A defender who’s pretty calm on the ball. I might sometimes seem a bit nonchalant — I’ve already been told that — but I’m very focused and I try to analyse situations well. And then a big part of my game is playing the ball out well, finding the right little pass and breaking the lines.”
Although Jacquet’s 6ft 3in frame gives him an advantage in the air, former coaches have suggested that he could become even more dominant with his heading at both ends of the pitch. The player himself admits, meanwhile, that he is trying to learn how to bring more controlled aggression to his game.
Jacquet has previously singled out Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté as reference points for him as a budding central defender. Having been watching and admiring the pair from afar, he will soon have the opportunity to learn first-hand from them.