The gap between Liverpool’s two January centre-back deals runs roughly 60 to 1. Mor Talla Ndiaye, an 18-year-old from Senegalese academy Amitie FC, cost the club around £1 million, in a move James Pearce was first to report. Jérémy Jacquet, a 20-year-old France U21 defender, cost them up to £60m from Rennes in the same window.
Youth-football analyst Bence Bocsak thinks the smaller fee may deliver something strikingly similar. In a profile for GiveMeSport, Bocsak described the way Ndiaye builds play from deep as “Jacquet-esque”, arguing Liverpool have already lined up the next centre-back of that profile.
Bocsak’s reading from Qatar
Bocsak has tracked the Senegalese defender since the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar last November, where Senegal reached the knockout stages.
“At 17-years-old he has everything to be an elite centre-back. Tall, quick and he reads the game really well,” Bocsak wrote on X around the time of the move. “The thing that immediately stood out to me at the U17 World Cup is his composure and quality.”
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The numbers backed up the eye test. Ndiaye averaged 35.66 forward passes per 90 minutes at the tournament, more than any other centre-back, according to Bocsak’s data. He ranked third for progressive passes (16.95 per 90) and inside the top five for defensive duels won (83.33 per cent).
Signed on 9 January, straight to Kirkby
Liverpool confirmed the move on 9 January 2026, subject to international clearance. Ndiaye had turned 18 earlier that month and went straight into Rob Page’s U21 group at Kirkby.
Amitie FC, the Senegalese academy owned by former Chelsea striker Demba Ba, sent him off with a short message about “hard work, discipline and perseverance”.
Arne Slot named him on the senior bench twice during the spring, against Crystal Palace in April and Manchester United in May. A visa delay then held him out of the start of Andoni Iraola’s first pre-season after Slot’s departure at the end of May, before he joined the United States tour once the paperwork was resolved.
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Back with the under-19s
The 2026-27 season has started with Ndiaye at youth level. He scored for Liverpool’s U19s in the UEFA Youth League on 9 September, heading in a Joe Bradshaw corner against Atlético inside the opening half-hour.
Jacquet has moved into the senior defensive rotation alongside Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk since completing his transfer in the summer. Ndiaye, at 18, is still with the under-19s.
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