Opinions may change come the end of May, but Jeremy Jacquet is the current frontrunner to be Liverpool’s signing of the summer.
Frankly, if the Frenchman maintains the level of performance we’ve seen so far in 2026/27, there’s an argument that he should be considered a serious candidate for the Reds’ player of the season.
But we’re not even into October yet, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
76 line-breaking passes, Jeremy? 76? That’s insane!
Jeremy Jacquet has, so far, registered 76 line-breaking passes in the Premier League this season. At a rate of 16.4 per 90, that puts the Frenchman 16th in the English top-flight (across all players and positions) and seventh for centre-backs, a spot ahead of eighth-placed Virgil van Dijk. And as Andy Jones noted in a recent piece for The Athletic, our young centre-back also ranks third among all Premier League defenders for passes into the final third (57).
| Players | Line-breaking passes per 90 | Line-breaking passes |
| Jan Paul van Hecke | 21.2 | 106 |
| Marc Guehi | 20.6 | 103 |
| Abdukodir Khusanov | 18.7 | 56 |
| Joachim Andersen | 17.5 | 37 |
| Calvin Bassey | 17.0 | 85 |
| Lisandro Martinez | 16.5 | 66 |
| Jeremy Jacquet | 16.4 | 76 |
| Virgil van Dijk | 16.2 | 81 |
* Jeremy Jacquet’s line-breaking passes in the 2026/27 Premier League season (Fotmob)
We are talking about a small sample size here – 450 minutes for Guehi, Van Hecke, Bassey, and Van Dijk, all the way down to Khusanov and Andersen on 269 and 190 minutes respectively – but it’s worth pointing out that Jacquet (417) hasn’t picked up the maximum possible number of minutes this season.
Still… not bad going for your first season in English football so far.
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Liverpool have given themselves a new weapon at the back
The former Stade Rennais star isn’t limiting himself beyond the borders of Merseyside either.
On Monday night, Jeremy Jacquet took the opportunity to impress new France head coach Zinedine Zidane with both hands, posting an impressive display against Belgium in the Nations League.
If you’ve got a spare couple of minutes, it’s well worth your time pouring over this highlights reel on X (formerly Twitter), courtesy of Sbzcomps.
Jeremy Jacquet starts his mark against Belgium! 🇫🇷👑✨ pic.twitter.com/THseFvtNqk
— Jacquetball_ (@jacquetball_) September 29, 2026
Now, we’ve not watched the full game back, so, relying on the clip above, that’s roughly 16 line-breaking passes by our count.
And these aren’t just lucky ball clearances from a defender being pressed; Jacquet’s first thought, regardless of whether he’s under pressure or has acres of space around him, is to progress the ball as deep into the opposition half as he can manage.
It’s, dare we say it, Virgil van Dijk-adjacent. Not quite the Dutchman’s raking diagonal cross-field passes that defined our No.4 at the very peak of his powers. But not a million miles away in terms of offering Liverpool’s backline another out under pressure or when simply looking to go vertical as quickly as humanly possible.
Not to burden Ibrahima Konate with criticism this morning, but distribution was a consistent bugbear for the now Real Madrid star during his Liverpool days. Excellent against the ball and in the air, but opponents were more often than not happy to encourage possession to fall to the Frenchman as opposed to Liverpool’s skipper.
With Jeremy Jacquet in the side, that no longer seems to be an issue – which is an even more pronounced advantage in a post-Trent Alexander-Arnold era.
The inevitable dip is coming for Jeremy Jacquet
Dread it.
Run from it.
The inevitable dip arrives all the same.
Admittedly, it currently feels like it may never come for Jacquet; such is the consistency of performance we’ve been treated to this season. But at 21 years of age, in an entirely new league – an uncompromisingly brutal, physical iteration of the Premier League – it would be naive to assume that the French international will pass through completely unscathed.
Which is exactly why it’s important to bear in mind the small sample size; it’s still early days. And we’ve yet to see how our summer signing responds to the adversity of the trough in his development.
By all means, let’s enjoy the peaks. But just as we shouldn’t let our expectations run wildly out of control, any critique that slips from our tongues should also come with equal restraint.
This kid is talented. Let him make mistakes, let him learn, let him develop.
Liverpool’s next move: Secure a top-class replacement for Virgil Van Dijk
Well… duh?
The point, regardless of whether Liverpool consider their long-term centre-back partnership to be Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni or another pairing after a transfer window, is that Liverpool cannot saddle their talented Frenchman with a defensive partner who can’t be trusted on the ball.
We’ve now seen what life looks like with two centre-backs as comfortable in possession as they are against it.
And we’re in absolutely no rush to see the current arrangement regress to what came before.
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