Iraola Praises Hungry Jacquet as £60m Defender Approaches Peak Fitness

Andoni Iraola says Jeremy Jacquet is closing in on peak fitness after an eye-catching start to life at Liverpool.

The French centre-back finally walked through the door at Anfield in July, completing a £60million switch from Rennes that had been agreed back in January. His arrival came with a caveat, though: he was still recovering from the shoulder surgery that cut short his season in February and cost him a sizeable slice of pre-season.

Any fears about rust have faded quickly.

Jacquet impressed on his first outing in red in the final pre-season friendly against Como, and Iraola has trusted him from the off. The 21-year-old has started all four of Liverpool’s competitive fixtures so far this campaign, rapidly moving from new face to first-choice option.

The defender’s workload has ramped up fast. He completed his first full 90 minutes in the 2-0 win at Ipswich Town last Friday, then backed it up with another full game in the midweek Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid.

Iraola likes what he sees.

“I think he had had good performances. He is still building,” the Liverpool manager said. “The first games, he couldn’t finish. Against Ipswich, he finished but he was very tired. I was very happy the other night because he finished and he had no issues and was fresh. He finished quite strong.

“He is building his physical condition after a lot of months without playing.

“He is a player that we knew about his qualities. He is confident on the ball, he is aggressive without the ball.

“He is quick and mentality-wise, you can see he is hungry to win things, to play minutes. Obviously I am very happy with him.”

Four games in, Jacquet has gone from rehab case to reliable presence. If this is him still “building”, Liverpool will be eager to see what he looks like once he finally hits top gear.