Jérémy Jacquet - A bet on tomorrow, paid for today

French Defender Set To Complete Medical Ahead of £65m Summer Transfer

I first saw Jacquet when France reached the U19 European final in 2024. He stood above every other defender there, commanding, fearless, visibly born to play on the front foot.

That promise has followed him into senior football at Rennes; his ceiling is unmistakably high, even if the foundations are still being poured. He is raw, he will make mistakes, and that is not a criticism; it is simply the truth of a 20-year-old defender learning his trade.

What frustrates is not the player, but the timing. Liverpool appear to have quietly written this season off as transition, asking supporters to place blind faith in a top-five finish and a European run while the present is left threadbare. The collapse of the Lutsharel Geertruida deal, again after dragging matters late, speaks to a clumsy certainty that tomorrow will always wait. It won't!

This isn't diligently planned patience; it feels like administrative arrogance. Richard Hughes seems more comfortable sketching the future than addressing the injuries and imbalances staring everyone in the face. Jacquet is a defender for the next decade, not the next five months, and expecting a summer signing to validate a season already stretched thin is unfair on Slot, the squad and the fans.

Liverpool's recruitment team have earned belief before, but belief alone doesn't defend corners, close games out, or steady a season drifting on faith. Jacquet will be excellent, perhaps exceptional, but he'll arrive as a promise, not a remedy, and the cost of that delay will probably be paid now, not later.