Incredibly exciting, Liverpool believe they've secured 'two of the best'

Richard Hughes Andoni Iraola Liverpool
© IMAGO - Richard Hughes Andoni Iraola Liverpool

Liverpool believe they've secured 'two of the best' in world football. Now that's an exciting one.

Liverpool have done some incredibly notable transfer business over the last year-and-a-bit. And that came after doing virtually nothing in 2024.

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But sporting director Richard Hughes has led some major pursuits since then. There was the record-breaking arrival of Florian Wirtz, the club's first nine-figure signing.

Then Alexander Isak joined from Newcastle United for a British transfer record fee. No messing about, then.

There were another couple of interesting signings, too. The first was Liverpool buying teenager Giovanni Leoni from Parma last summer - the highest fee the Reds have ever paid for a teenager and by quite some way.

It was a sign of Liverpool looking at life after Virgil van Dijk, really. Bringing in an 18-year-old with best-in-the-world potential. And then did something similar in January, signing Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes for over £60m.

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Jacquet, 20, is again someone Liverpool hope can replace Van Dijk in the long run. The Athletic reports that they believe Leoni and Jacuqet are 'two of the best' young defenders in world football - though, you'd hope to secure that for nearly £100m all-in.

There's no question that the pair are phenomenally talented and do boast the kind of potential to become world-beaters. Though, Ibrahima Konate's exit has complicated things as now Jacquet will be thrust into a first-choice partnership ahead of schedule.

Leoni remains injured, however, after picking up a long-term knee issue on his debut last season. He should be back before too long but we're still waiting.

But Liverpool hope the wait will be worth it. They may just have two of the five top under-21 centre-back around here, with Pau Cubarsi, Luka Vuskovic and Jacobo Ramon perhaps making up the rest of the group.

If that's true, this will be a partnership like no other down the line. Now the onus is on Liverpool to help them realise their extraordinary potential.

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