'Strong and smart' - have Liverpool signed 'next Van Dijk' in Jacquet?

Liverpool have finalised a deal for Jeremy Jacquet in a deal worth up to £60m - but the defender will not move to Anfield until the summer.

It would not be an understatement to say he was a name most people were unaware of at the start of the winter window.

To commit up to £60m - £55m up front before a potential £5m in add ons - for a 20-year-old is a hefty call but Liverpool view the French centre-back as a long-term investment and someone who will form an integral part of their backline for years to come.

Given the club's defensive problems this season - they have conceded 33 goals from 24 Premier League games - and their ongoing injury crisis, it is also telling Arne Slot's side are prepared to wait until the summer for Jacquet, who will join from Ligue 1 Rennes.

The question of whether they could have got him now has a simple answer - Rennes are simply unwilling to sanction a move until the summer.

The French side are not in a rush for the money and adamant any fee for Jacquet would have to surpass their previous club record sale of £55.4m when Manchester City signed Jeremy Doku from them in 2023.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are happy to wait, signing the player on a five-year contract until 2031, with the option for a further year.

They see Jacquet as a young defender with plenty of senior experience for his age and their data analysis has backed the decision to spend so much on a player they believe has immense potential.

"It's a lot of money but Jacquet has everything to become one of the best centre-backs in the world in the next few years," says French football expert and ESPN's Julien Laurens. "He is arguably the best centre-back of his generation.

"He's quite tall, quick and strong - and he's a machine when it comes to duels in the air and on the ground. He reads the game well and is good on the ball.

"He's not a proper ball-playing centre-back yet. Technically, there is a lot to improve on, but he's a smart kid and he can get there and become like a Virgil van Dijk."

At Rennes, Jacquet has primarily played in a back three this season. When he was 18, he wanted more game time so they loaned him out to Clermont in Ligue 2 but he was was only there for half a season before he was recalled in January 2025, and made a total of 36 Ligue 1 appearances.

His strength in the air has been a standout this season, winning 75.51% of his aerial duels - the highest among Ligue 1 defenders in 2025–26.

Given the unforgiving nature of his position, it's no surprise there have been some mistakes.

Jacquet has made three errors leading to shots, with only seven players in the French top flight making more.

Describing his style of play to L'Equipe, via Ligue 1, Jacquet said: "I'm calm on the ball, maybe I can look a bit nonchalant - but I'm focused. What defines me is playing out well, breaking lines with the right pass."

He was named in the Under-19 Euros team of the tournament in 2024 and has represented and captained France at youth level. That alone tells you about his leadership qualities.

And he was born in Bondy, the Paris commune where Kylian Mbappe and William Saliba come from.

Given the price tag, there will undoubtedly be a sense of expectation when Jacquet arrives. With Italian Giovanni Leoni also returning from an ACL injury in the summer, the Liverpool backline could look very different come the start of next season.

Liverpool have kept an eye on Jacquet, who held talks with Chelsea too, but their interest accelerated over the weekend with the player setting his heart on a move to Anfield.

The understanding is Jacquet was convinced by the Liverpool project, as opposed to Chelsea where the proposition was less attractive, given they have two other elite young defenders in the squad in Josh Acheampong and Mamadou Sarr.

As it stands, both Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate are out of contract at Liverpool this summer, while captain Van Dijk, 34, and Joe Gomez's contracts expire in 2027.

A move now would not have been wise because it's unlikely Jacquet would get in ahead of Van Dijk and Konate this season. At Rennes, who are pushing for a place in Europe, he will continue as a regular starter and benefit from getting more playing time in Ligue 1.

For Jacquet, the challenge between now and the summer is to prepare for life in the Premier League. He is by no means a finished product and Rennes' 4-0 defeat at Monaco on Saturday showed the margins where he can improve, especially when it comes to decision-making when stepping out of the defensive line.

It is worth noting that two of the biggest recent transfers from Ligue 1 to the Premier League have found it challenging, with both Manchester United's Leny Yoro (£52m) and Manchester City's Abdukodir Khusanov (£34m) finding their respective early stints tough.

"It won't be easy to step up from Ligue 1 to the Premier League at a club like Liverpool," adds Laurens. "It wasn't easy for Leny Yoro and it wasn't easy for William Saliba at the beginning too, but Jacquet is so so talented."

In the last six months, Liverpool have signed five centre-backs aged 20 or under.

Leoni, 19, arrived from Parma for £26m in the summer, while the Reds completed deals for Noah Adekoya, also 19, Senegalese 18-year-old Mor Talla Ndiaye and Austria youth international Ifeanyi Ndukwe, 17, in January.

Adekoya joined from Burnley, while both Ndiaye and Ndukwe impressed Liverpool scouts at the Under-17 World Cup in Qatar last November.

Ndiaye then completed a £1m move from Amitie - the Senegalese club owned by former Chelsea and Newcastle striker Demba Ba - and has represented Senegal at youth level.

Ndukwe reached the final with Austria and will join Liverpool in the summer from Austria Vienna, with the fee potentially rising to £2.5m.

The sheer number of signings is an indication the Anfield club are future-proofing their central defensive options.

At first-team level, it is an area where change is inevitable - and no secret they tried and failed in their pursuit of a proven talent in Marc Guehi last summer.

Investing such a large sum on an unproven talent like Jacquet may be deemed a risk, but Liverpool believe they have done their homework on him as they build a squad for the next generation.

The average age of their signings over the last two transfer windows is lower than than 22, although the club still believe that such a group of new players can bring high levels of quality and performance in the short, medium and long term.

Stats provided by BBC Sport journalist Matt Jones