Liverpool in a panic after Jeremy Jacquet injury blow | OneFootball

Liverpool’s centre-back department is undergoing a major overhaul.

Last summer the Premier League champions invested £26m in Giovanni Leoni - with the 19-year-old arriving from Parma.

They stepped up their assault on the centre-back transfer market in January - agreeing to pay around £62m for Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet.

The deal will go through during the off-season - with the player remaining with his French Ligue 1 club until the end of the 2025/26 campaign.

Those extra few months were supposed to give Jacquet the opportunity for a perfect send-off - by helping SRFC to qualify for European football.

But the plan almost immediately backfired with the 20-year-old suffering a devastating shoulder injury in early February.

Jacquet required surgery

Following surgery it is not expected that the France under-21 international will play again this season.

And according to a report in Sport in France the injury has caused panic behind the scenes at Anfield.

Jacquet was being earmarked for an immediate first-team role alongside Virgil van Dijk - since Ibrahima Konate is now widely expected to depart on a free transfer.

But owing to the defender’s recovery process he might not be altogether ready for a full preseason with his new club.

That in turn could affect his preparedness for the new season ahead - with Jacquet potentially ring-rusty when he arrives on Merseyside following a long layoff.

Liverpool now panicking about Jacquet plan

“Surgery became inevitable: severe dislocation and persistent pain despite rehabilitation,” the report reads.

“8-12 weeks out, almost certainly the end of his season.

“[Liverpool] are panicking behind the scenes: Arne Slot had envisioned a Van Dijk-Jacquet duo to dominate the Premier League.

“The deal, approved jointly with the Reds' staff (Liverpool had the final say), is delaying his integration: arrival on July 1st, but a light preseason, without match fitness.”

Jacquet is Liverpool's preferred Konate successor

There is a suggestion that Jacquet has already been chosen as Konate’s preferred successor. And if he isn’t ready for duty then a decision may need to be taken on the acquisition of another central defender.

“At Anfield, they're scrutinizing his rehabilitation: 92% pass completion rate, 4 solo clean sheets this season – Jacquet is the perfect successor to Konaté," the report states.

Liverpool are cursed in the centre-back department given Leoni’s long injury absence owing to a torn ACL. Now there are headaches being caused by Jacquet’s shoulder injury.

Let’s hope he’s ready because right now it looks like the Reds cannot catch a break.