Jeremy Jacquet completes £60m Liverpool transfer as injury concerns eased

Jeremy Jacquet has officially completed his £60m transfer to Liverpool from Rennes, with the centre-back signing a five-year deal with the option of a sixth year. The move, which was agreed in January, was formally confirmed on Wednesday, with the deal structured at £55m initial payment plus £5m in add-ons.

The 20-year-old France Under-21 international has successfully recovered from shoulder surgery that initially delayed his arrival at Anfield. He suffered the injury shortly after the agreement was reached and returned to Rennes on loan to complete his rehabilitation. Having completed his recovery programme, Jacquet will be available for pre-season training, which begins on 14 July.

"I feel really good the first impressions are good and I am very happy to start here," Jacquet told Liverpoolfc.com. "For me it is a big dream it is a big club A club like Liverpool it is a big dream for me."

Jacquet becomes the second most expensive defender in Liverpool's history, behind only Virgil van Dijk who cost £75m from Southampton in January 2018. Liverpool fended off strong competition from Chelsea and Bayern Munich to secure the defender's signature.

The centre-back, who came through Rennes academy and made 33 appearances for the Ligue 1 side, explained his decision to join the Reds. "At Chelsea I felt there were quite a lot of people in his position. Whereas at Liverpool apart from the fact that Virgil van Dijk is nearing the end of his career training with him is going to be huge. He is going to teach me so much. Training with guys like that it doesn't get any better than that," he said.

Jacquet will compete for a starting position alongside club captain Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and fellow young defender Giovanni Leoni, who is recovering from an ACL injury. He joins as Ibrahima Konate departed to Real Madrid as a free agent.