Richard Hughes already dropped Liverpool summer transfer hint before Jeremy Jacquet signing

Liverpool has got a head start on its summer transfer business with the signing of Jeremy Jacquet, with Richard Hughes having already hinted at what could be expected later this year

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes(Image: Getty Images)

It’s never too early to make a new signing - even six months in advance, in Liverpool’s case.

Although it was a quiet January for the Reds, they were active on deadline day, securing the signing of Jeremy Jacquet. Having beaten Chelsea to the Rennes star, Liverpool will now have to wait until the summer to see him in action.

On the face of it, it is a slightly odd deal, especially when you consider the injury problems Arne Slot currently has in defense. Then again, perhaps it shouldn’t come as too big a surprise to see Liverpool planning well in advance.

It’s not a new approach by any means. Upon Slot’s arrival in 2024, goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was signed in anticipation of him arriving the following year, no doubt with Caoimhin Kelleher’s expected departure in mind.

With Ibrahima Konate set for an exit this time around, not to mention Virgil van Dijk will have just a year left on his contract, it makes sense for Liverpool to get its ducks in a row as early as possible - but there might be another factor to this early summer deal.

When Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes arrived around 18 months ago, it was off the back of a busy international summer, which the latter explained contributed to a quiet window as just Mamardashvili and Federico Chiesa were signed.

Liverpool has secured the signing of Jeremy Jacquet ahead of the summer(Image: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

"When there are major competitions during the summer — a European Championship, Copa America and the Olympics as well — there's a lot of football being played, naturally the attention is going to be there," Hughes said at his unveiling at Liverpool.

That might well provide a hint as to what can be expected this summer as well. The biggest tournament in soccer, the World Cup, of course takes place later this year, and is expanded from 32 teams to 48 for the first time.

That means more disruption for clubs in their summer preparations, and it may well have an effect on the business done in the transfer window. By getting a deal done for Jacquet early, Liverpool may well be setting itself up for a trickier market than usual.

Whether that means we’re in for another window like the 2024 one, we’ll have to wait and see. There’s no doubt that Liverpool will need more signings by that point, and club CEO Billy Hogan has indicated there will be more additions made to Slot’s squad if needed.

“The term ‘sleeping giant’ was used when FSG was looking at Liverpool, in terms of this incredible potential that the club had, and it had obviously fallen on some difficult times," Hogan said during a roundtable with Hughes and Slot this week. "Our job and our focus has been on trying to return it to - as we believe - its rightful place.

“That job is frankly never done, that’s something we’re constantly working on. Improvements that we’ve made from an infrastructure standpoint, the continued investment in the squad.

“At the end of the day, this is about winning trophies and about making our supporters happy and proud of the team. We’re going to continue to do that.”