Rennes manager confirms agreement after Reds outmanoeuvre Chelsea and Manchester United for coveted defender.
Liverpool have all but secured a major summer coup, finalising a deal to sign highly-rated French defender Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes after fending off late interest from Chelsea and Manchester United.
The breakthrough came after Rennes manager Habib Beye publicly conceded the club had secured “the best deal they could hope for” for the 20-year-old starlet. While stopping short of a formal announcement, Beye confirmed an agreement was in place, respecting the player’s wish to depart at season’s end.
“We negotiated the transfer, obtained the amount that the club looked for, we respected the player’s wish and we have him for the remainder of the season,” Beye stated, acknowledging the draw of a move to the Premier League and Champions League football.
The deal, worth an initial €60 million potentially rising to €70m with add-ons, marks a significant long-term investment. Jacquet is understood to have turned down Chelsea, unconvinced by the competition among young defenders at Stamford Bridge, and a late attempt from Manchester United failed to sway him.
For Liverpool, the signing addresses a critical future need, with Ibrahima Konaté still expected to depart upon the expiry of his contract this summer. The club had weighed an emergency January move following Joe Gomez’s injury but opted instead to commit their resources to securing Jacquet for the long term.
The Reds will hope the French youngster can eventually form a formidable partnership with fellow young centre-back Giovanni Leoni, whose own start at Anfield was cruelly delayed by an ACL injury shortly after his arrival.
With this summer move now secured, Liverpool are set for a quiet conclusion to the January transfer window, having been the Premier League’s biggest spenders during the previous summer with an outlay nearing €500 million. All focus now turns to integrating their new defensive pillar when he arrives from Brittany.
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