Andoni Iraola has signposted that Jeremy Jacquet is ready to be Virgil van Dijk’s defensive partner this coming season, with the player “fully fit”.
With Ibrahima Konate having departed on a free contract and Giovanni Leoni’s recovery from an ACL injury ongoing, it would appear that the 21-year-old is the most likely option to plug the gap in the first XI.
The Frenchman, who signed from Rennes in the January transfer window (on a deal postponed to the summer), has been handed the No.5 shirt.
Iraola admitted that he’s been following the centre-half’s career for some time now – certainly before he took over the reins from Arne Slot at Anfield this summer.
But even more excitingly, the new Liverpool boss confirmed that Jacquet is “fully fit and ready to go” following his recovery from a shoulder injury picked up in Ligue 1.
“Jeremy was a player I knew very well even before signing for Liverpool,” the Basque-born head coach told Stan Sport. “I think he has all the tools that we will need for that position. He’s fully fit and ready to go.”
News that will come as music to the ears of the Anfield faithful in light of our somewhat precarious centre-back situation.
Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust
Joe Gomez, it’s worth pointing out, is also an available option at centre-back, though we rather suspect the coaching team wants to keep the Englishman spare, given his ability to also file out at right-back.
While we firmly back the talents of a centre-back duo consisting of Van Dijk and Jacquet, it feels awfully threadbare behind the pair.
Gomez, as we’ve already illustrated, is an extremely valuable squad option. Especially while Conor Bradley continues to recover from his injury and Jeremie Frimpong’s availability feels like a constant roll of the dice.
Even assuming we had a fully fit Leoni ready and raring to go, Konate’s exit leaves us short on experience in the backline. Not to mention a body, if we don’t consider Gomez a pure option at centre-back.
We’ve been frustrated by the club’s apparent dismissal of market opportunities like Luka Vuskovic and Antonio Silva – both of whom have ended up at Brighton and Bournemouth respectively.
Perhaps this is an indication that our recruitment team is putting the feelers out for a more experienced option. To tell the truth, we’d welcome such a transfer, given it would take the pressure off Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet this season.
But we’d like to see some movement on this front and sharpish.
Welcome to our Live Comments section, where new comments will appear automatically
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
