Virgil van Dijk turns 35 in July and Liverpool have already began planning for his exit
Arne Slot is thrilled with the signing of Jeremy Jacquet and accepts Liverpool will quickly have to just accept there might be “life with out” Virgil van Dijk.
Jacquet’s transfer from Rennes for a charge within the area of £60m was accomplished on switch deadline day though the 20-year-old will spend the remainder of the season with the Ligue 1 membership earlier than becoming a member of Liverpool in the summertime.
The scale of the charge has attracted consideration – former France World Cup winner Christophe Dugarry labelled Liverpool “suckers” for parting with that much money – however Slot says it’s wise recruitment given Van Dijk turns 35 in July.
“Every part that’s accomplished right here is rarely in panic, it’s at all times a long-term concept or one thing that has been thought of for a very long time,” he mentioned.
“After all, we’re conscious of the truth that Virgil won’t play for this membership for 10 extra years however he has a one-and-a-half 12 months contract left so he might be with us for that time frame and possibly even longer if he retains staying match as he’s now. As I’ve mentioned earlier than, what a praise to him at his age to play each three days, not just for his membership but additionally for his nation.
“Hopefully he can keep as match as he’s for a number of years however this membership, we’re not silly, we all know someplace within the upcoming years there may be life with out Virgil. I can say for each place that this membership shouldn’t be solely occupied with short-term however the mid- and long-term future within the selections we make.”
Liverpool boss Slot ‘more than happy’ with Jacquet signing
Jacquet is a France Underneath-21 worldwide and could possibly be parachuted straight into the primary group on his arrival with Van Dijk’s common companion Ibrahima Konate’s contract because of expire on the finish of the season.
Slot mentioned of Jacquet’s arrival: “Very pleasing after all. He’s a really large expertise and possibly much more than expertise however we talk about expertise due to his age. Second, as a result of we weren’t the one one keen on him so it’s a giant praise to the folks working actually onerous to signal gamers.
“It’s one other instance of the mannequin we’re utilizing at this membership – younger, very gifted gamers generally in the beginning of their careers or generally already a couple of years into their profession however at all times gamers which can be younger and might enhance us within the brief time period but additionally positively in the long run.
“We’ve signed plenty of them just lately and like I’ve mentioned many instances within the mid/long-term way forward for this membership, and even the brief time period, it’s in an excellent place.”
Would have been unusual to let Curtis Jones depart Liverpool – Slot
Liverpool head into Sunday’s clash with Manchester City in sixth place in the Premier League.
Curtis Jones is prone to begin the sport on the bench as soon as once more after approaching as a late substitute in final weekend’s 4-1 win over Newcastle.
The England midfielder is one other participant whose contract is working down, though he does nonetheless have 17 months left.
Jones was linked with a January change to Inter Milan however remained at Anfield.
Slot mentioned: “He’s performed plenty of minutes, not all of them, however he’s additionally unfortunate within the sense that it’s the one line the place we haven’t had accidents, however he’s nonetheless performed plenty of minutes and that’s after all why we saved him.
“We’ve got plenty of gamers in that line however we want these midfielders in several positions as effectively and the second you want that, the road in midfield will get smaller and smaller. The state of affairs hasn’t modified. To us, he is among the 16 gamers we’ve out there for the long-term and in addition on this second in time. Could be a bit unusual if we let anybody go if we solely have 16 of them.”
