Jacquet Gets Greenwood Reality Check as Liverpool Eye Roma Defender

Liverpool's new £60m signing Jeremy Jacquet faced a baptism of fire on Tuesday evening as Mason Greenwood ran rings around the Rennes rearguard in Marseille's 3-0 French Cup demolition.

The French Under-21 international, who sealed his move to Anfield on deadline day, was left badly exposed during his first competitive outing since agreeing to join the Reds. Greenwood, the former Manchester United forward now plying his trade in Ligue 1, proved particularly troublesome, with Amine Gouiri and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also getting on the scoresheet as Marseille progressed through the Round of 16.

The French media were merciless in their assessment of Jacquet's display. GetFootballNewsFrance handed him a 5/10, noting that whilst his distribution from deep showed promise, he was caught badly wanting defensively when Marseille broke at pace. "His advanced positions on the ball were interesting, but he looked exposed defensively in the second half, especially with Greenwood's pace on the counter-attack," they observed.

MaxiFoot was even harsher, rating the centre-back just 4/10. The outlet acknowledged he'd battled gamely despite the recent upheaval surrounding his transfer, but criticised his positioning for Greenwood's strike: "Like his defensive teammates, however, the Breton was poorly positioned for Greenwood's goal."

RFI painted a particularly damning picture of one sequence, describing how Greenwood "raced through an undefended inside-right channel" before slotting past the goalkeeper, with Jacquet having been caught high up the pitch and left gesticulating helplessly at his teammates. The same scenario nearly repeated itself in the 82nd minute, with Marseille finding vast space in an identical area.

The scrutiny now falling on Jacquet's every move was always inevitable once Liverpool's involvement became public knowledge. Former player Christophe Dugarry was among those questioning the Reds' business, branding them "suckers" for the deal.

Meanwhile, the Merseyside club are reportedly preparing an offer for Roma's Zeki Celik, a versatile defender capable of operating at right-back or within a three-man defence. According to Italian sources, the Turkish international has yet to formally acknowledge Liverpool's interest, though is expected to do so imminently. Roma, keen to tie their star down to fresh terms, haven't yet tabled an official counter-offer, with negotiations still in their infancy.