Liverpool officially announced the signing of new player Jacquet. The French defender joined Liverpool from Rennes in Ligue 1 after The Reds agreed his transfer earlier this year.

From role model to teammate, Jacquet can now call the player he has long admired a colleague. The young French international has repeatedly stated that Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is the centre-back he learned from most during his youth. Now the two will share the same dressing room as teammates, and Jacquet hopes to learn as much as possible from the Dutch defender. He said: "If I want to reach the highest level, I must learn deeply from him."

A bold choice, Jacquet's path from Rennes academy to the Premier League with Liverpool was accelerated by his own determination. After making his senior debut for Rennes in January 2024, Jacquet chose to be loaned to French club Clermont for the next 12 months to gain experience. In early 2025, the loan ended early as his parent club Rennes decided they preferred to benefit from his obvious talent. He said in an interview with L'Équipe: "Either stay at Rennes with limited playing time, or find something new. I chose playing time, and it proved to be the right decision."

Shining at the U19 European Championship, Jacquet showed great potential at the U19 European Championship held in Northern Ireland in summer 2024. He was a starter for the French team, helping them reach the final where they finished as runners-up, ultimately losing to Spain. In the group stage, he also scored a penalty that secured victory. Jacquet was ultimately named in the tournament's official team of the tournament.

Clear aerial duel strength, in 19 Ligue 1 appearances in the 2024-25 season, Jacquet's aerial duel success rate per 90 minutes reached 75.5%, ranking third in the league. For the same metric, his ground duel success rate is 62%, placing him in the top 20 in Ligue 1 and second highest at Rennes. Opta data shows that Jacquet completes 4.9 clearances per 90 minutes and averages 4.14 ball recoveries per 90 minutes.

He is also a composed passer. Opta data also shows that Jacquet was highly efficient with the ball in his last Ligue 1 season, completing 973 of 1,076 passes, with a success rate of 90.4%. Jacquet describes himself: "I'm calm on the ball, perhaps I look a bit relaxed, but I'm focused. What defines my playing style is playing the ball out cleanly from the back and breaking defensive lines with precise passes."

He was not always a defender. Given that Jacquet played in midfield early in his career, his ball-playing ability is perhaps unsurprising. At that time, he was inspired by French World Cup winner Paul Pogba, with Jacquet saying: "I wanted to play like him." However, Rennes' scouts had a different view and convinced a initially hesitant Jacquet that his future lay in defence. Jacquet now says: "They were right, they knew better."

Another centre-back from Paris, Jacquet's recruitment by Liverpool continues the trend of the club having centre-backs born in Paris in recent years. The first was Mamadou Sakho, who joined Liverpool from Paris Saint-Germain in 2013. Next was Ibrahima Konaté, who recently departed after joining from RB Leipzig in 2021 and helping the team win the Premier League in the 2024-25 season. Now the baton has been passed to Jacquet, who comes from the commune of Bondy in Paris.

He has done his homework. In his first official interview as a Liverpool player, Jacquet revealed that he has been learning about life at Liverpool and the club's history. He explained: "I've watched a lot of videos, especially recent ones, particularly content on the club's channel. I'm trying to understand things here, including training sessions, the club's history. Although I don't know everything yet, I'll catch up as soon as possible."

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