What A Dressing Room Game Reveals About Liverpool’s Newest Defender

Squad bonding sessions rarely tell you much about a player’s ability, but every so often one moment cuts through the noise. During a Liverpool five-a-side draft, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong were each given a £20m budget and told to build a team by bidding on team-mates. When Jacquet was the last name left on the board, Wirtz grabbed him for nothing and could not hide his delight, muttering “Oh top, top” while rubbing his hands together. Frimpong, who had already filled his side with Virgil van Dijk, Alexander Isak, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, was so confident he declared his team were “killing him.” Wirtz’s response was blunt: “No chance.”

Why That Moment Matters

Players do not fake enthusiasm about team-mates in a setting like that. They train alongside quality every day and they know it when they see it, so Wirtz landing Jacquet as an afterthought and still backing him against a star-studded rival XI says plenty about how the dressing room already rates the defender.

Composure Beyond His Experience

On the pitch, the evidence supports the dressing room verdict. Six appearances into his Liverpool career, Jacquet has slotted alongside Virgil van Dijk with a calmness that belies how new he is to the role. There has been no fuss and no sign of a young centre-back being rushed before he is ready, which is precisely what a defence needs from a new arrival rather than flashes of brilliance mixed with mistakes.

A France Recall Now Look Realistic

The early form has not gone unnoticed internationally either. With William Saliba working his way back from injury, there is a genuine gap in Zinedine Zidane’s defensive options, and Jacquet is being talked about as a live candidate for the new manager’s first squad. On what has been shown so far, that would not be a token inclusion.

A Departed Sporting Director Gets Some Credit

It is worth pausing on where Jacquet came from. Richard Hughes left Liverpool with plenty of debate still to be had about his transfer business, and there is a fair argument he could have done more in his final window. But Jacquet, alongside Victor Munoz, Bradley Barcola and Ronald Araujo, already looks like business Liverpool will not regret. A defender good enough to be picked apart in a dressing room game, and good enough to be discussed for a senior international recall within months of arriving, is about as strong an early verdict as a signing can get.