United attempt audacious last-minute hijack to beat Liverpool to the punch for French sensation – report

Under INEOS, Manchester United have been known to place their faith in young stars with immense potential. Leny Yoro is a perfect example of the co-owners’ approach, and they were planning to add the United centre-back’s U21 French teammate, Jeremy Jacquet, to the roster as well. The Red Devils were not the only teams in the fray, with Chelsea and Liverpool also interested in the 20-year-old defender. As revealed by Fabrizio Romano, the Stade Rennais ace is all set to join the Merseyside club, who have agreed a pre-contract ahead of the summer. 🚨💣 BREAKING: Jeremy Jacquet to Liverpool, here we go! Deal agreed now for June 2026, as revealed. Understand fee is €60m plus €10m add-ons to Rennes. Jeremy has agreed personal terms with #LFC. Agreement done for summer 2026 for one of the most talented CBs in the world. pic.twitter.com/eVoA75oAiQ — Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 1, 2026 Jeremy Jacquet set for Liverpool move It will be a crushing blow for United, who are in desperate need of reinforcements at the back. Harry Maguire‘s contract is up in the summer, and as things stand, he has not been offered a new deal amid interest from several Italian and English clubs. Lisandro Martinez is also attracting interest from Barcelona, while the injury records of both Matthijs de Ligt and Luke Shaw are worrying. Which explains why, as per Florian Plettenberg of Sky Germany, the 13-time Premier League champions tried to hijack the deal at the last minute. United attempted last-minute hijack “Manchester United tried to hijack Jeremy Jacquet’s summer transfer to Liverpool in the last hours, but were unsuccessful. 🚨✋🏼 Excl | Manchester United tried to hijack Jeremy Jacquet’s summer transfer to Liverpool in the last hours, but were unsuccessful. Jacquet already had an agreement in place with Liverpool. #LFC #MUFC — Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) February 1, 2026 “Jacquet already had an agreement in place with Liverpool,” the Sky reporter wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Whether there is any truth to these rumours, we might never know. United usually are interested in top talents from across the globe, and it would not be a surprise if there were initial talks. But given the player cost an initial €60 million plus €10 million in add-ons, such an expensive deal as never going to materialise in January. Romano has already rubbished talks of a hijack, and it will be interesting to see which defender INEOS ultimately target once the summer transfer window opens. Feature image Alex Livesey via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25