Arsenal make initial contact to sign “Rolls-Royce” defender

It’s almost time for Arsenal to return home ahead of, what supporters hope will be, an historic season.

Having landed back in England following their Asian tour, the Gunners will face Villarreal and Athletic Club Bilbao in friendlies in North London this week, ahead of their league opener against Manchester United at Old Trafford a week on Sunday.

Off the pitch, so far this summer, as Mikel Arteta’s team target the Premier League title, they’ve already made six summer signings, the most they’ve recruited in a single July for 28 years, but will another soon follow?

Arsenal well stocked at the back

While question marks remain in the final third, Arsenal are certainly covered when it comes to defensive options.

Cristhian Mosquera has arrived from Valencia for a reported fee of £13m, set to be the understudy to William Saliba as the right-sided centre-back, with Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori, and Jakub Kiwior very much ensuring the left side is covered too.

Now, though, according to a report by Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal “have made initial contact” to sign 20-year-old defender Jérémy Jacquet from Stade Rennais.

Romano adds that the Gunners may wait until next summer to make a move, although they could accelerate their interest ‘in case of exits’, with Ahad Shaukat of Caught Offside noting that there is plenty of interest in Kiwior.

This means that the Poland international’s future could dictate whether the club swoop for Jacquet this summer, or wait to snap him up next year.

Arsenal have a rich tradition when it comes to French players: Thierry Henry, Robert Pirès, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, to name just a few, so could Jacquet become the latest to call North London home?

What Jérémy Jacquet would bring to Arsenal

Jaquet, who came through Rennes youth academy, has actually made just 12 senior appearances for les Rouge et Noirs, spending 12 months on loan at Clermont Foot, featuring six times in Ligue 1 and 17 times in Ligue 2 for les Lanciers, before being recalled in January.

His performances have earned rave reviews, with Ben Mattinson labelling him a “Rolls-Royce” who will be the world’s “next highly coveted” centre-back.

Mattinson praises his “composure” and duel-winning ability, believing that he is “physically imposing” and able to “defend big spaces effectively”, concluding that he will be playing at a very high level in the not-too-distant future.

Meantime, podcaster Phil Costa adds that Jacquet is “one of the best defensive prospects” on the planet, impressed by his ability to take “a lot of responsibility” in possession.

Jacquet was born in Bondy, a northeastern suburb of Paris, a commune with just a population of little over 50,000, but a certain William Saliba was also born there, which is quite a coincidence, so let’s see how the duo compare.

As the table documents, despite being very inexperienced, Jacquet actually has more experience right now than Saliba did when Arsenal signed him for a reported fee of £27m from Saint-Étienne in 2019.

However, it was three years until Saliba finally made his debut for the club at Selhurst Park, loaned back to Saint-Étienne before also spending time at Nice and Olympique de Marseille, so Jacquet could be in line to do something similar, should he put pen to paper in North London.

With Saliba, Arsenal took their time and played the long game, which has very much paid off, given that the French international might just be the best centre-back in the world, according to Sam Tighe of ESPN.

So, could Jacquet enjoy a similar career trajectory?

Well, all available evidence suggests he could do just that.