How Liverpool could line up next season with Jeremy Jacquet in, Mohamed Salah out

With Jeremy Jacquet set to join Liverpool in the summer, we've already got a first glimpse of how the Reds could look next season, with a couple of big names potentially making way

Jeremy Jacquet could start in Arne Slot's side next season, but Mohamed Salah could move on(Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool has already got a head start on next season after completing the signing of Jeremy Jacquet on deadline day.

Although the 20-year-old completed his medical on Merseyside on Monday, and a $82 million deal (£60M) has been finalized, we won’t be seeing him in action for the Reds until the 2026/27 season.

He will instead return to Rennes and see out the rest of the campaign back in Ligue 1. Once Jacquet officially becomes a Liverpool player though, he could have a big role to play in the Reds’ side next season, with more big changes potentially coming.

It is something of a risky strategy from Liverpool to go after a defender for next season rather than now, considering the Reds are battling just to finish in the top four, and options have been running out in defense of late.

That though perhaps shows just how highly rated Jacquet is by the club, with Liverpool having beaten Chelsea to his signature - one of the sides that will be looking to beat the Reds to a Champions League spot for next season.

It’s hard to imagine Liverpool will embark on another transfer window like last summer, but we could be set for some big changes anyway, with a couple of big names potentially leaving.

Ibrahima Konate is an obvious place to start. The Frenchman’s contract expires at the end of the season, and there still aren’t any signs of a new deal being agreed.

Ibrahima Konate's contract is due to expire in the summer(Image: Getty Images)

He’s not the only player set to depart for free, with Andy Robertson also out of contract in the summer, and after a winter in which a move to Tottenham looked to be on the cards, it feels like the Scot will be bidding farewell after nine years of exemplary service.

And there could be a huge sale in the offing as well. Mohamed Salah’s future feels like it’s far from settled, despite his return to the side following his outburst in December, and with his numbers dropping significantly this season, it might be the right time for that move to Saudi Arabia to be made.

With those three departing, and Jacquet arriving, we can already get a sense of what Liverpool’s team could look like at the start of the 2026/27 season.

If Konate does leave, then you would imagine that Liverpool would target another center-back, and one that is more experienced than the 20-year-old Jacquet and the 19-year-old Giovanni Leoni.

Jeremy Jacquet could go straight into Liverpool's team upon his arrival in the summer(Image: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

Jacquet though has started 18 league games for Rennes this season, and as much as he will have been signed for the future, he should also be prepared to step straight into back four alongside Virgil van Dijk.

With Salah gone, Jeremie Frimpong could step up to replace him on the right wing, leaving Conor Bradley to make the right-back spot his own. With Robertson also on his way, Milos Kerkez will almost certainly be confirmed as the first-choice left-back.

Midfield takes on a familiar look, with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai taking their usual spots, while Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike can have the chance to develop what is looking like an exciting partnership.

Possible Liverpool line-up in 2026/27: Alisson; Bradley, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Frimpong, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike.

You may have spotted another glaring omission there. What about Alexander Isak?

Liverpool’s record signing and the most expensive player in Premier League history is unlikely to be tossed aside after just one season - it’s just a question of how you get him in the team.

The obvious answer would be for him to rotate with Ekitike, but could they start together? It’s something Arne Slot has tried before, and a plan he could return to, assuming he remains the man in charge next season.

Alexander Isak should be back fit next season(Image: (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images))

It will require some shifting around, with only one of Frimpong or Bradley likely to start, while the midfield could take on more of a diamond shape, which we saw in the win over Inter Milan.

That would enable Wirtz to play more centrally as the 10, and perhaps have more impact on the game, as well as link up with both Ekitike and Isak to form what the Reds would hope to be one of the most dangerous attacks in the Premier League.

Possible Liverpool line-up in 2026/27: Alisson; Frimpong, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Isak, Ekitike.