Jeremy Jacquet has enjoyed a superb start to the season for both Liverpool and France, but Andoni Iraola is keen to keep his feet on the ground after making his international debut

Andoni Iraola has insisted Jeremy Jacquet still has a “long way to go” despite the Liverpool defender’s superb start to the season.

Jacquet has made an immediate impact since arriving at Anfield from Rennes during the summer, with the Reds having completed a deal for the 21-year-old’s signing back in February.

He has played every game so far for Liverpool this season, despite only playing one game in pre-season following a long lay-off with a shoulder injury, and his reputation has only grown with each passing appearance as he has managed to establish himself as Virgil van Dijk’s new center-back partner.

His impressive performances have led to international recognition, with Zinedine Zidane having called up the young defender for his first France squad during the international break, and he earned rave reviews as he made his debut in a 1-0 win over Belgium before catching the eye again when facing Italy.

Jacquet’s brilliant start to life at Anfield has not come as too big a surprise to Iraola, but the Liverpool boss is eager to keep his feet on the ground.

“Obviously, he has done very well, firstly because he is a very good player,” Iraola said in his press conference on Friday ahead of facing Manchester City.

“Obviously, you know Jacquet, you’ve seen clips of him, but until you have him every day in training, you can’t really appreciate what he has.

“I’m very happy for him also personally. I know that, for him, to make his debut in the national team in a team like France is always difficult to have a chance, and I think he played really well. He should be happy, but still he has a long way to go, but he has started the season really well.”

Iraola also allayed injury concerns over Jacquet after he was left out of France’s squad for the final game of the international break against Belgium on Monday.

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Reports indicated Jacquet had felt a hamstring strain ahead of the fixture, but he has been seen back in training with Liverpool this week, and Iraola has confirmed he is on course to feature against City on Sunday.

“He’s fit, he’s ready to go,” Iraola said. “He didn’t play with the national team in the last game because of protection, but he should be fine. We need to train tomorrow, but he’s fine, yes.”

Liverpool.com says: Well, that’s a relief. It’s a sign of just how impressive Jacquet’s been that he had so many Liverpool fans sweating when he missed that game for France on Monday.

It also says a lot about how highly he’s rated by Zidane that he didn’t want to risk him against Belgium. It seems he has a very bright future ahead for both club and country.