The story of Arne Slot's INCREDIBLE encounter with Jeremy Jacquet over three years ago

Arne Slot is no stranger to Liverpool's latest arrival, he met Jeremy Jacquet over three years ago.

Some things are just written in the stars, and this definitely seems to be the case for the Reds' new signing.

The Frenchman is going to have to wait until the summer when he finally joins up with his new teammates but this transfer might have already been years in the making, so what difference does a few months make?

Jacquet may be a relatively newcomer on the scene in European football. But for those on the niche circles who watch youth tournaments and are aware of Stade Rennais' incredible academy, he has been a name floating around for a while.

From his impressive performances at the U19 European Championships, guiding his team to the final to him being a captain at several age groups for the French youth national teams.

Jacquet's rise is something Slot will also know a lot about. In fact he should have been aware of him over three years ago.

It just so happens that they met incredibly back in December 2022 when Jacquet made his first-team debut for Rennes.

At the time, Slot's Feyenoord side were in Portugal for a warm weather winter training camp. Rennes happened to be in Portugal as well and arranged a friendly with Slot's team on the 16th December.

It was in this game that Jacquet made his first-team debut as a 17-year-old, coming in to play the last ten or so minutes of the game.

Jacquet wore the no.21 shirt at the time and footage on Feyenoord's YouTube page shows the Frenchman walking off just next to Slot after the final whistle.

At the time, few would have envisaged just how their paths would converge again.

Jacquet was still fresh and raw but already highly rated. He showcased his ease on the ball, completing all of his attempted passes (3/3) and not really putting a foot wrong to help his side to a 2-1 victory.

Slot was more incensed with the referee at the end of the game and was shown to be having a long conversation with him rather than the result.

This was a friendly after all and later that season his side would go on to win the league and dominate Dutch football.

Jacquet had to wait a bit longer for his breakthrough into the first-team. It was only over a year later that he would make his debut in Ligue 1.

But that first experience, that encounter with Slot is one he probably never forgets. Not merely because it was him meeting his future head-coach for the first time but because it was his bow in senior football.

How remarkable that it just happened to coincide with the man who could now help him become one of the best centre-backs in world football.

Life works in mysterious ways.

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