After Jacquet: Jamie Carragher outlines what he feels Liverpool still ‘need’ to do on deadline day
Jamie Carragher has said that he’s ‘pleased’ to see Liverpool secure a deal to sign Jeremy Jacquet, but insists that the Reds still need to complete further business before tonight’s transfer deadline.
The Reds have reached a £60m agreement to snap up the French centre-back from Rennes (£55m up-front plus £5m in add-ons), and he’s expected on Merseyside today for a medical, but the transaction won’t take effect until the summer.
It means that, even with Joe Gomez likely to return from injury in the coming days, Arne Slot will only have six senior defenders available to him for the time being. That number includes Calvin Ramsay, who’s played just once for the first team all season.
Carragher: Liverpool need a defender to come in straight away
Speaking on Sky Sports News on Monday lunchtime, Carragher implored his former club to bring in a defensive recruit for the here-and-now on top of the Jacquet signing for the summer.
He said: “[I’m] pleased that they’ve made a signing in that area. Liverpool need reinforcements there right now, but they definitely need that in the summer.
“It looks like [Ibrahima] Konate is going to move on; he stil hasn’t signed a contract yet. They’re getting young centre-backs for the future. Unfortunately [Giovanni] Leoni, who they signed last summer, has an ACL injury.
“I would still like to see Liverpool sign another defender today because I think they will need one before the end of the season.”
"I would still like to see Liverpool sign another defender today"
Jamie Carragher reacts to Liverpool reaching a verbal agreement to sign Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet pic.twitter.com/PxViHhuXez
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 2, 2026
Most Liverpool fans would surely agree with Carragher
Most Kopites will be airing similar sentiments to Carragher in terms of bringing in an immediate defensive acquisition, as impressive as the capture of Jacquet undoubtedly seems.
Gomez is currently the only senior backup to Konate and Virgil van Dijk at centre-back, and the versatile 28-year-old has had more than his fair share of injury troubles this season and in previous campaigns.
The right-back situation is even more alarming, with the injuries to Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong leaving Ramsay as the only natural senior option in that part of the squad, and Slot has often turned to midfielders to deputise in defence instead of trusting in the Scotland international.
We know from the past 15 years of FSG’s stewardship that Liverpool aren’t the kind of club to panic-buy on deadline day, regardless of how deafening the outside noise might be, and that stance isn’t likely to suddenly undergo a 180-degree shift today.
However, it would leave Reds fans sweating on the fitness of their senior defenders for the remainder of this campaign, especially when missing out on Champions League football for next term is a genuine possibility, and the consequences of that scenario could be felt for several years to come.
From now until 7pm, we live in hope more than expectation in terms of incomings at Anfield.
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