Incoming Liverpool centre back Jérémy Jacquet suffered a “serious” injury during Rennes’ 3–1 defeat to Lens on Saturday, manager Habib Beye stated post-match.
The 20-year-old was left in obvious discomfort after landing on his shoulder, and was immediately substituted after being helped from the field.
The blow to Jacquet comes less than a week after Liverpool confirmed he will arrive at Anfield this summer in a deal worth £60 million—£55 million of that fee is guaranteed money and a further £5 million could be paid in performance related add-ons.
What Does Jacquet’s Injury Mean for Liverpool?
Get well soon Jérémy Jacquet 🙏 pic.twitter.com/HIFDyiSiG0
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) February 7, 2026
In the short-term, Jacquet’s absence from the pitch doesn’t mean a great deal. But there’s a bigger picture in play for Liverpool, who will want him up to speed and filled with as much as match experience as he can possibly get.
If Beye’s fears that he’s suffered a serious injury prove to be accurate, Jacquet could be looking at months on the sidelines. Typically, when a player leaves the field clutching their shoulder in obvious disstress, they have suffered a dislocation. It’s then a question of whether or not the shoulder can be cleanly popped back into place, or whether or not surgery will be required to prevent a reoccurance.
Real Madrid and England superstar Jude Bellingham managed an ongoing shoulder issue for close to two years, before he finally went down the surgery route. He missed two months of action as a result.
Liverpool’s hope will be that Jacquet has done something less serious, allowing him to return to action as soon as possible for Rennes.
What’s Next for Liverpool and for Jacquet
The immediate focus for Liverpool, despite the expensive outlay, isn’t actually on Jacquet’s health, it’s getting themselves firing in the Premier League and Champions League. The upturn in form of both Manchester United and Chelsea has increased the pressure on Arne Slot’s underperforming squad, who are sixth in the Premier League table and four points adrift of the Blues.
The Reds do have a game in hand at the time of writing—a heavyweight clash with Manchester City at Anfield—but must start stringing together more consistent performances if they are to stay in touch with the top five. That’s the revised target for Slot, who has kissed goodbye hopes of retaining the Premier League title in favour of simply qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
The ever-improving chemistry between Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitiké is a big positive for Liverpool, but questions remain over their flaky defending and inability to keep clean sheets. Many will point to the lack of manpower at centre back— a key reason for Jacquet’s signing—but there’s no disputing that Ibrahima Konaté, who could still leave this summer on a free transfer, and Virgil van Dijk have performed well below their levels.
As for Jacquet, he’ll hope to not only be back playing as soon as possible, but also reverse the slump Rennes are currently enduring in Ligue 1. The defeat to Lens, who moved above Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the table with victory, was their third straight defeat, though they can take comfort in the fact that Lille’s rotten of run of form shows no sign of ending.
Rennes sit sixth in the table despite their abysmal run, two points behind Lille in fifth. Currently, Beye’s side would enter into the qualifying round for next season’s Conference League, but Strasbourg and Toulouse are hot on their heels and also have aspirations of leapfrogging Lille—doing so would earn automatic entry into the group stages of the 2026–27 Europa League.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as New Liverpool Signing Suffers ‘Serious’ Injury a Week After Deal Done.
