Liverpool manager Arne Slot has welcomed the upcoming arrival of a “very big talent” in Jeremy Jacquet as he admitted the club are already thinking about life without captain Virgil van Dijk.
France under-21s defender Jacquet was also linked with Chelsea but will move to Anfield in the summer after Liverpool agreed a deal worth an initial £55million, with up to £5m in add-ons, to sign him from Rennes, where he will finish the season.
The deal came after Liverpool missed out on Marc Guehi, who instead joined Sunday’s opponents Manchester City, while Ibrahima Konate, one of only two fit senior centre-halves at present alongside Van Dijk, is into the last six months of his contract.
Arne Slot has spoken for the first time on Jeremy Jacquet, who will join the Reds ahead of next season 🗣️
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 5, 2026
“Very pleasing, of course,” Slot said of 20-year-old Jacquet’s deal. “He’s a very big talent and maybe even more than a talent, but we speak about talent because of his age.
“Second, because we weren’t the only one interested in him, it’s another big compliment to the people working really hard to sign players because we were able to sign such a big talent.
“It’s another example of the model we’re using at this club – young, very talented players sometimes at the start of their careers or sometimes already a little bit into their career. But always players that are young and can improve us in the short term, but also definitely in the long term.
“We’ve signed a lot of them recently and, like I’ve said many times, the mid to long-term future of this club, and even the short-term future, is in a very, very good place.”
Last summer Liverpool signed 19-year-old Italian defender Giovanni Leoni, only for him to suffer a serious knee injury in September, while January also saw the arrival of 18-year-old Senegalese centre-back Mor Talla Ndiaye. Austria youth international Ifeanyi Ndukwe will also join in the summer.
With Van Dijk due to turn 35 in the summer, the club are looking to put in place the pieces for a new-look defence going forward.
“Everything done over here is never from panic, it’s always a long-term idea and or something that has been thought about for a long time and not only by one person,” Slot said.
“Of course, we are aware of the fact that Virgil won’t play for 10 years, but he has one-and-a-half years left on his contract, so he will be with us for that time, maybe longer even longer if he keeps staying as fit as he is now.
“I’ve said before, what a compliment to him at his age to play every three days, not only now for our club but for his country for seven or eight months already.
“Hopefully, he can stay as fit as he is for multiple years, but this club is not stupid. We do know somewhere in the upcoming years, there is life for this club after Virgil.
“You are talking about Virgil, but I can say this for every position. This club is not only thinking short-term future, but also the mid to long-term future.”
