Jeremie Jacquet: Liverpool’s New Defensive Star

Liverpool’s new boy Jeremie Jacquet has wasted no time turning heads at Anfield.

Signed from Rennes as the long-term replacement for Ibrahima Konate, the 21-year-old French defender has stepped into a tricky role and made it look deceptively simple. Konate walked away to Real Madrid on a free last summer after carving out a strong Premier League reputation. Filling that gap was never going to be easy. Jacquet is making it look like a seamless handover.

Within weeks of his arrival, the local press started to rave. The early verdict has been emphatic: Liverpool might have found another defensive cornerstone.

The Liverpool Echo picked out his display against Fulham last Saturday, a game that left many Liverpool players trudging off the Anfield pitch frustrated. Jacquet was the exception. The paper highlighted his composure, describing him as one of the few who could leave with his head held high after a difficult afternoon.

They went further, homing in on the trait that already defines him: ice-cold nerves. To slide into a side in transition, carry the responsibility of replacing Konate and still play with that level of calm has been hailed as “a remarkable achievement” for a player who only turned 21 this summer. Their assessment was blunt: he is already ahead of where Konate was at the same age and, on current evidence, carries all the hallmarks of a future star.

This is Anfield echoed that sentiment but pushed it into another area of the pitch. Jacquet isn’t just defending solidly; he’s changing the way Liverpool build attacks. His contributions going forward have outstripped what Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai have offered in recent weeks, a striking compliment for a centre-back in a team that leans heavily on its midfield creativity.

On the ball, he has restored something Liverpool lost when Konate departed: a defender who looks utterly at ease in possession. That poise has quickly made him a non-negotiable pick in the starting XI, the kind of player a manager plans around rather than rotates.

Liverpool wanted a successor to Konate. Early signs suggest they may have found something more: a defender ready to set his own standard at Anfield.