Arne Slot drops HUGE Van Dijk future hint after explaining Jacquet signing in Liverpool ‘are not stupid’ claim | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has revealed the club’s plans in the centre of their defence amid lingering doubts over the futures of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, while having spoken out for the first time on the reasons behind their move for Jeremy Jacquet.

The Reds opted to undergo a quiet January transfer window, though did pounce right at the end to seal the signing of one of French football’s brightest prospects in Jacquet. Smashing the Lille transfer record after agreeing to meet their €69m (£60m, $81m) demands, Liverpool will bring the 20-year-old into their squad for next season, with his arrival on Merseyside scheduled for July 1.

With all eyes on the centre-half, though, Jacquet was given a bit of a run-around by Mason Greenwood in his first outing since the move was confirmed – and the French media were very quick to give him a major roasting.

The capture of Jacquet, though, means in the 20-year-old and Giovani Leoni, 19, the Reds have acquired two of the best young centre-halves in world football – giving them a foundation in which to build their defence around for the future.

That signing, though, places further question marks over both Van Dijk – who is 35 this summer and has just 16 months left to run on his deal – and Konate, out of contract in the summer and persistently linked with Real Madrid.

In light of the Frenchman, Liverpool are poised to try one final time to nail the defender down to a new deal with a meeting scheduled with his agent this week.

Speaking for the first time since the signing of Jacquet was confirmed, Slot has revealed that Liverpool are already planning for life “with or without Van Dijk”.

“Nothing that’s done over here is ever from panic,” Slot told a press conference on Thursday morning.

“It’s always a long-term idea or something that has been thought about for a long time. By not only one person, but by multiple people.

“Of course, we are aware of the fact that Virgil will not play for this club for 10 more years, but he has a one-and-a-half-year contract left, so he will be with us for that period of time and maybe even longer if he keeps staying as fit as he is now.

“Because I’ve said it before, what a compliment to him at his age to play every three days, not only for our club but also for his country, for seven or eight months already.”

Carragher thinks Liverpool will make another huge defender signing

Discussing Van Dijk’s future, Slot continued: “So yeah, hopefully he can stay as fit as he is for multiple years.

“But this club, we are not stupid, we do know that somewhere in the upcoming years, there is life for this club without Virgil.

“So you are now talking about Virgil, but I can say this for every position: this club is not only thinking about the short-term future, but also the mid-to-long-term future, in the decisions we make.”

While Fabrizio Romano insists Jacquet has moved to Liverpool to play regular minutes, the increasingly likely departure of Konate could potentially see the Reds making yet another transfer splash, particularly more pressing given Van Dijk will be approaching the final year of his contract.

As a result, Jamie Carragher has made it clear that he expects the Reds to dive into the market once more to sign another big central defender.

“When you look at stylistically what Jeremy Jacquet is, it tells me Ibrahima Konate is not signing,” Carragher said.

Insisting he expects Liverpool to sign ANOTHER centre-half this summer, he added: “I think Liverpool are going to go and buy a proper centre-back in the summer, who I would imagine will play alongside Virgil van Dijk, and then you’ve got two really good young centre-backs.”

On the evolving look of Liverpool’s defensive line, Carragher continued: “They still need to play, but one of them – Giovanni Leoni – is coming back after an ACL, so it is not going to be an easy season for him next season.

“Van Dijk is going to be on the back of a World Cup, and he’s going to be 12 months older.

“So, if Konate doesn’t sign, they sign another player to replace Konate — a top-of-the-range centre-back to play right now — and you’ve got these two as back-up. I still think they’ll get plenty of games.”

Carragher believes Liverpool were forced to revisit their strategy and change direction for Jacquet once it became clear that the primary target, Marc Guehi, would move to Manchester City instead.

We also previously reported how his wages – some £300,000 a week at the Etihad – proved way beyond what the Reds were prepared to spend.

The pundit continued: “The situation with Guehi changed, for me. In the summer, Guehi was being brought in to provide competition for Konate – not necessarily take his place right away.

“It’s got to the stage with Konate this season where if you’re buying someone, it is to replace him now. Maybe he is not going to sign, and maybe he is not the same player.

“I look at Guehi and I worry about his height. The make-up of the Liverpool team — Wirtz, Mac Allister, Kerkez, Frimpong — and then you bring in a centre-back who is not the biggest… for me, Liverpool had to go and buy a giant.

“Jacquet definitely is that. The one they bring in during the summer, I hope, also has that.”

Inter star open to move; Liverpool sent major Salah exit warning

In terms of who that next big-name defensive signing could be, reports claim the Reds have already identified two top-class alternatives ahead of the summer – and TEAMtalk sources understand that one of those, in Alessandro Bastoni, is very much open to a transfer this year.

With succession planning very much the buzz phrase at Anfield, the Reds have reportedly entered into ‘formal discussions’ to sign an ‘explosive’ all-round ‘modern attacker’ in a £50m deal.

The player in question could present the Reds with a successor to Mo Salah, with the Reds told to expect a giant offer to come their way in a matter of weeks after a domino effect transfer was sealed.

And in other news, Liverpool have reached an agreement for an out-of-window transfer and .