Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has urged new star Jeremy Jacquet to keep his feet firmly on the ground after an impressive start to life at the club.
The young centre-back has been one of the standout stars so far this season for the Reds, helping them to secure three successive Premier League clean sheets.
Speaking after Jacquet was named as the Man of the Match following a 1-0 win at Bournemouth, van Dijk had important advice for his new centre-back partner going forward.
The 21-year-old was named as part of the senior French national team squad for the first time in his career, a reward for his excellent start to the season.
Van Dijk Warns Jacquet To Not Get Carried Away By Initial Hype
Virgil van Dijk spoke on Sky Sports after the game at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, and he dwelled on the topic of Jacquet's performance.
The Dutch centre-back hailed his young teammate for his excellent start to life in the Premier League, but urged him to not relent in his work ethic and efforts.
"He has had an excellent start, but we are only in September. I want him to keep working and keep learning. I am sure he will.
Van Dijk noted that Jacquet is receiving a significant amount of praise for his good work but warned him to remain cautious, pointing out that their partnership is not perfect and will only improve with more games together.
"There is obviously a lot of praise and rightly so, but I know how it works when you play a game not at the standards you have set. So let's just stay calm, keep working, and try and stay important for us like he was today again.
[The partnership with Jacquet] is still a work in progress. There are still things we can improve but you learn by playing games.
I said at the start that you experience things in games and see how each other react to certain moments, and then you adapt to that.
"It is still a work in progress, but so far, it is good. For him personally, he is 21 years old. He is very promising but it is up to him to keep working hard and stay calm.
The captain revealed that he hopes that the youngster learns from him and adapts to the team, building on his fine start.
"Can he learn from me? I hope so! Listen, it's all about him and how he adapts to the team and what he brings to the team. It's a big credit to him how he started his Liverpool career, but we are in September.
Hopefully there are years of his Liverpool career left. He has to stay calm, keep working hard and keep being important for the team - nothing more and nothing less," he said (via Liverpool Echo).
Jacquet and van Dijk have started all five of the Reds' games in the Premier League and their UEFA Champions League game this season.
Their partnership is expected to be challenged when Giovanni Leoni returns to action following his lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Jacquet Performing Well Above Expectations Since Liverpool Debut
Liverpool spent a reported £55 million plus £5 million in add-ons to beat Chelsea to the signing of Jeremy Jacquet from Stade Rennais in January 2026.
The agreement was for the youngster to spend the rest of the 2025-26 season at the French club before joining the Reds this summer for pre-season.
Jacquet barely played a couple of games after the transfer window closed in the winter before he suffered a serious shoulder injury that required him to undergo a surgery.
He did not play a single minute of what was left of the season, essentially ensuring that he lacked match sharpness when he joined Liverpool this summer.
The Reds did not take him on tour as he was yet to fully recover, meaning that he missed most of their pre-season training.
Jacquet made his unofficial debut in a friendly against Como a week before the season began, and he scored in a 45-minute cameo, showing enough to make fans sit up in anticipation.
Since then, he has played 417 of 450 available minutes in the Premier League and has not once looked out of place.
He completes 90.4% of his passes per 90 and has registered a 76.3% ground duel success rate per 90 so far this season.
He also wins 76.9% of his aerial duels per 90, and completed 2.37 tackles and 1.73 interceptions per 90.
Jacquet's brilliant start to life in England would make it difficult for either of Joe Gomez or Leoni to displace him in Andoni Iraola's best XI.
The youngster is in the best environment to develop, playing alongside one of the modern-day greats of the Premier League.
