Is Jeremy Jacquet a William Saliba clone? Liverpool landed future ‘superstar’ for £60m as Danny Murphy tells French defender ‘biggest quality’ he must learn

Those at Anfield spotted that potential some time ago, with a £60 million ($80m) transfer package with Rennes being agreed back in February. Jacquet remained in his homeland before heading for Merseyside over the summer.

He has slotted seamlessly into Andoni Iraola’s plans. The odd question had been asked of how Liverpool would fare defensively this season after losing Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate to free agency.

Jacquet has helped to calm any fears there, with a collection of assured performances being put in alongside club captain Virgil van Dijk. In the Dutch maestro, the France U21 international has the best possible mentor at his disposal.

Not that he appears to be in need of much instruction and moulding, with the many challenges posed by life in the English top-flight being confronted head on. He has looked strong in the tackle, composed in possession and capable of spraying passes out from the back.

Jacquet is seemingly cut from similar cloth to Arsenal star Saliba, with ex-Reds midfielder Murphy - who was speaking in association with Snabbare - telling GOAL when that suggestion was put to him: “It's difficult not to get excited when you see how good he is and how elegant he is on the ball coming out with it.

“I think we're yet to see him defensively over a period of time. He looks to have all the attributes to be a wonderful player, but most of all at centre-half, I think the biggest quality you learn is decision-making. You can have all the qualities in the world, but if your decision-making isn't good, then you can still look vulnerable.

“So at the moment, there's a bit of work to do for him to convince me of a Saliba comparison, if you like, but the potential is definitely there. And like any good young defender, you need help around you.

“I don't think, particularly at the moment, the full-back scenario at Liverpool is helping the centre-halves because although [Ronald] Araujo has come in and given them that bit more stability, they still look a bit vulnerable at times - Fulham had quite a few chances, Atletico did, Forest did. So he's going to have his ups and downs, I feel, this season, as is the team. But yeah, he is looking like potentially a real superstar for the team.

“I think sometimes we build up players really quickly instead of just analysing them for a season and really seeing what they're about as the winter months come in and the difficult games come when you're tired and when the players around you, there might be a spell in the season where Van Dijk's not alongside him and then we'll see a bit more about him. So those are the little tests ahead for him.”

Jacquet has helped to pick up two clean sheets this season, against Ipswich and Fulham, but Liverpool are yet to fire on all cylinders as a collective. That is despite remaining unbeaten across six matches in all competitions.

They will be back out on the road this weekend, when taking in a trip to Iraola’s former employers at Bournemouth, with the Reds looking for their defensive unit to provide the foundations on which a match-winning performance can be built.