Jeremy Jacquet stat proves Liverpool may have its Virgil van Dijk replacement

Liverpool has Jeremy Jacquet signed ahead of his arrival at Anfield in the summer, and the 20-year-old could prove to be the ideal long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk

Jeremy Jacquet will join Liverpool in the summer(Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool might well have Virgil van Dijk’s long-term replacement in place now following the signing of Jeremy Jacquet.

The Reds beat Chelsea to the 20-year-old’s signing on deadline day this week, with Jacquet set to officially become a Liverpool player in the summer after seeing out the rest of the campaign back at Rennes.

The defender has signed a five-year deal which will take him to the summer of 2031, with Liverpool getting in early ahead of what could be another period of upheaval at Anfield, with Ibrahima Konate currently among those set to depart as his contract expires at the end of the season.

While Jacquet will obviously be seen as a potential replacement for his fellow Frenchman, he could also be arriving with one eye on Van Dijk’s future.

The Liverpool captain will be 35 by the start of the 2026/27 season, and will have just a year remaining on his contract by that point, which may lead the club to start planning for life after him.

In Jacquet, they may have found the ideal successor. You only have to look at the stats to see why the young defender could be the man to fill Van Dijk’s big shoes.

Jacquet could prove to be the ideal long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool(Image: Steven Halliwell/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

OptaJoe lists both players in its list of the highest aerial duel success rates in Europe’s big five league this season - Van Dijk sits fourth on the list with a 77.3 per cent success rate, while Jacquet is just behind him in fifth with a 75.5 per cent rate for winning his duels.

And that’s not all. Gradient Sports details how Jacquet is one of the top-performing center-backs in Ligue 1 this season, with the Rennes star ranking third in terms of challenges and ball carrying, and second when it comes to his passing and his line-breaking passes in particular.

Jacquet will hope he can continue to impress for the remainder of the season as Rennes aims to qualify for Europe, before making his way to Merseyside in the summer.

“I am honoured to sign for Liverpool, one of the greatest football institutions in the world,” he said in a statement after his transfer was announced.

“It was also very important for me to finish my time in red and black on a high, at my boyhood club, the club of my heart.

“I'm approaching this second half of the season with the desire to experience some great moments with my team-mates and the fans.”