Iraola Praises Jacquet as £60m Defender Gains Fitness at Liverpool

Andoni Iraola says Liverpool are close to seeing the real Jeremy Jacquet.

The 21-year-old centre-back, a £60million signing from Rennes whose move was agreed in January and completed in July, arrived at Anfield still working back from the shoulder surgery that ended his previous season in February. The operation cost him a big slice of pre-season and, for a while, his match fitness lagged behind his obvious talent.

Liverpool knew that when they brought him in. They went ahead anyway.

Jacquet offered an early glimpse of what was to come in the final pre-season friendly against Como, catching the eye on his first outing in red. Since then, Iraola has thrown him straight into the fire: four competitive games, four starts.

The progression has been clear. Early on, Iraola admitted, Jacquet simply could not get through the full distance.

“The first games, he couldn’t finish,” the Liverpool manager said. “Against Ipswich, he finished but he was very tired.”

That Ipswich Town fixture – a 2-0 win last Friday – brought his first complete 90 minutes for the club. The real test came next. Could he back it up in Europe?

He did exactly that, going the distance again in the midweek Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid, and this time the tank was not empty at the end.

“I was very happy the other night because he finished and he had no issues and was fresh,” Iraola explained. “He finished quite strong.

“He is building his physical condition after a lot of months without playing.”

The physical side is catching up with the technical and mental qualities that convinced Liverpool to invest so heavily.

“He is a player that we knew about his qualities,” Iraola said. “He is confident on the ball, he is aggressive without the ball.

“He is quick and mentality-wise, you can see he is hungry to win things, to play minutes. Obviously I am very happy with him.”

From a delayed start to back-to-back 90s against Ipswich and Atletico, Jacquet’s Liverpool career is beginning to move at pace. The question now is how high his level goes once that fitness build is finally complete.