No, that isn’t an exaggeration. 

The 21-year-old has seamlessly slotted into the defence alongside Van Dijk at Anfield. The Reds have kept a clean sheet in 50% of their outings and they rank fourth for expected goals against (xGA), with only Arsenal (6.2), Nottingham Forest (8.8) and Bournemouth (9.3) having a superior record this term.

For a bit of context here, Liverpool kept just 10 clean sheets all season last term and they ranked joint seventh for this. 

Eyebrows were raised in January when the Reds agreed to pay Rennes an initial £55million for Jacquet. It was a huge sum of money for a player with 33 appearances to his name in the first-team for Les Rouges et Noirs.

Now though, the decision to gazump Chelsea appears to have been a masterstroke. 

Throughout the entirety of the winter window, Fabrizio Romano posted updates on Chelsea’s pursuit of the centre-back. In mid-January, Romano revealed that the Blues had agreed personal terms with Jacquet who was the “clear main target” for their defensive rejig. He claimed the contract was ready and the player was keen. The implication was that while the Premier League side didn’t want to match the asking price set by Rennes, a deal would be struck and the then 20-year-old would be the latest wonderkid to move to Stamford Bridge. 

And then Liverpool made their move. They agreed terms with Jacquet, paid what Rennes wanted and allowed him to remain in Ligue 1 for the remainder of the season. 

It was viewed as a gamble by some parts of the media.

The Reds had spent heavily in the summer but their purchases all had a larger sample size. Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak had all delivered across multiple seasons. Jacquet, meanwhile, hadn’t even had one full season in the first-team. 

Florian Wirtz was one of Liverpool's big-money additions

Christophe Dugarry, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, felt he needed to comment on the move too.

"This isn't meant to offend the player; honestly, he's not to blame at all, and we wish him all the best because he's a good player. When you have suckers like that...well done to Rennes. Rennes managed to find a sucker like Liverpool for 72m euros.

"And even for poor little Jacquet, this transfer is going to put a lot of pressure on him. Even him, the poor kid, who is certainly a very good player, is going to arrive with a pall of pressure.

"His performances will be viewed differently, even though he doesn't deserve it. Those of us who know football, let's not try to justify this amount by saying it's because Liverpool has money or whatever. It's meaningless!” 

Jacquet was going to crumble under the pressure. Liverpool were going to regret spending a potential £60million on an untried and untested centre-back. 

Yet here we are heading into November and Jacquet’s high end performances have been normalised to an extent nobody bothers talking about them now.

And that, right there, is why he’s entering Van Dijk territory. 

Jacquet is 'entering Van Dijk territory'

Following his £75million move from Southampton in January 2018, many people claimed the Reds had significantly overpaid. Rivals would tune in for 'hate watches' only to be left disappointed when the powerhouse Dutch centre-back would dominate.

The fee was the focus until it wasn’t. After a while, it was viewed as a seismic event if the former Celtic man was dribbled past. 

We’re not yet there with Jacquet but few pundits are mentioning his fee now. They’re no longer discussing Liverpool’s gamble to sign him to replace Ibrahima Konate. The 21-year-old has adapted to the speed and physicality of the Premier League with relative ease. 

He’s played a pivotal role in the four clean sheets the Reds have kept. He’s racked up a top speed of almost 35km/h. He has a pass success rate in the league of close to 89% despite attempting over 13 line breaking passes and over six long passes on a per 90 basis. Jacquet is dominating in duels too, winning 70% of his ground duels and 74% of his aerials. 

On the ball, he’s progressive and efficient. Without it, he’s a behemoth. 

Andoni Iraola will be pleased with the performances so far

He’s already struck up a good understanding with Van Dijk, with the Liverpool skipper praising him after the win over Brighton: “He’s a fantastic player and he has got so much more to come.

"It’s very exciting for Liverpool and it’s down to him to keep working hard, keep learning and keep level-headed. Both of us have to get to know what the other does in certain situations. You get to know each other in so many moments.

"So far we have been doing pretty well.”

Somehow, the 21-year-old with relatively minimal experience in the men‘s game is proving to be a bargain at £55million. 

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