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Liverpool summer signing Jeremy Jacquet says the presence of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate influenced his decision to join the Reds.

Chelsea were also keen on recruiting the centre-back. However, when asked in an interview with Ouest France about the choice of club, Jacquet said the amount of competition at Stamford Bridge, combined with the prospect of being mentored by both van Dijk and Konate at Anfield, influenced him massively:

“At Chelsea, I thought there were a lot of people [in my position who were the same age]. While in Liverpool, despite the fact that Van Dijk is at the end of his career, training with him is going to be huge. He will bring me [on] a lot.

“There is also Ibou Konate who can help me integrate [as a fellow Frenchman]. Training with guys like that, there’s no better.”

Jacquet is likelyto be van Dijk’s long-term successor

You don’t pay £60m for a 20-year-old if you don’t think he has a big future, and it suggests the young centre-half is being groomed to be a stalwart of Liverpool’s defence for many years to come.

Van Dijk has a year left on his contract at Liverpool. The Reds captain will mentor Jacquet for the next 12 months before (potentially) moving on to pastures new.

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Chelsea were not the only team he snubbed in favour of Liverpool

Ouest France also asked Jacquet whether Manchester United were interested in snapping him up from Rennes, and he replied:

“That’s one example, but also other clubs that have not been mentioned. It [the transfer to Liverpool] didn’t happen in a week.”

It appears that Arne Slot’s side beat a lot of competition to sign Jacquet. We shall see if he is worthy of all the hype when he officially moves to Merseyside this summer.

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