Liverpool are taking it slowly with Jérémy Jacquet after a shoulder injury and months without football. [Andoni Iraola] said the defender will probably play the last game of the US tour, which gives a pretty clear read on where he is in the return process. Jacquet was signed in January for £55million from Rennes and was allowed to finish the season there, then had his last game on February 7 after the shoulder problem and surgery.

Jacquet's delayed return

This is not a case of Liverpool having bought a player and then rushing him into a friendly for the sake of optics. Iraola said, "With Jeremy, we decided to take it easy with him." He added that Jacquet has been out for a lot of months with a shoulder injury and should have time to build up minutes during the tour.

There is a reason for the caution. Jacquet has been out since February 7, and Liverpool seem more interested in getting the comeback right than forcing a debut on a fixed date. The club's 5th-place finish and 60 points last season also frame this as a squad-building issue rather than a rescue mission.

Gomez's injury adds a second problem

Liverpool's day got worse when Joe Gomez failed to complete ten minutes in the 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville. Iraola called it "probably the worst news" of the day and said the squad had been happy to get through training without losing anyone before Gomez went down.

That leaves Liverpool with one defender being eased back from a long layoff and another leaving the pitch almost immediately. The timing is awkward, because the club are trying to balance a controlled return for Jacquet with a separate fitness issue for Gomez.

Jacquet has also settled quickly off the pitch. He said he has had a warm welcome from the squad and messages from fans before arriving at the club. He also said he has spent a lot of time talking with Trey Nyoni, Leo Giovanni Leoni, Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong, who he described as "off his head." Frimpong's recent 6.7 rating sits in the middle of that same training buzz, but the bigger story is still the one Liverpool are managing at the back.

Jacquet is still likely to make his first appearance on the final game of the US tour, and Liverpool now need that plan to hold after Gomez's setback in Nashville.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →