It’s a pretty mouth-watering prospect, the Liverpool front three for next season so far.
Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane.
In behind? Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana can bring work-rate, passing range and tactical acumen while a back four is still likely to be enhanced with a couple of new arrivals.
The eagle-eyed among you - and history suggests that’s most - will have spotted that the line-up above finds no place for Philippe Coutinho or Emre Can.
The former generally considered by most to be Liverpool’s best player, the other a man who ended the season extremely well and at 23 is considered by most to have a huge role to play in the Liverpool midfield for many years to come.
So what does it tell us about the Mohamed Salah deal, all £44m of it if the various add-ons for Liverpool and Salah’s performance are ever triggered.
Essentially that it’s more than the sums of its parts.
Liverpool have no intention of selling Coutinho or Can.
While the German is yet to sign a new deal at Anfield - and has just a year left on his current one - the Reds expect to come to an agreement with the player despite reported interest from Juventus.
Even if a deal cannot be struck, Liverpool will not agree a sale this summer, instead preferring to let Can run his deal down rather than attempt to replace him for next season.
Coutinho of course seems to be linked with a move to Barcelona every time he returns to Brazil or every time one of Barcelona’s south Americans are asked about him - yes we mean you Neymar Jnr.
At various times the Spanish press have had the player in “advanced talks” with the Nou Camp outfit or target number one for a fresh wave of Catalan investment.
Even in the past fortnight Coutinho was forced to answer questions about Barcelona while playing with Brazil in Australia.
“Talking about this is complicated,” Coutinho said. “I have a contract with my club and it is long.
“So my focus is on the present and the national team. My focus is here.”
Typical Coutinho. Respectful to both clubs. Though not exactly a “never” either.
Liverpool told Barcelona several months ago that the 25-year-old was not for sale - at any price.
The club has a good relationship with Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian and the player himself only signed a new five-year deal in January.
In April Klopp himself said of Coutinho’s links elsewhere; “I am not concerned, actually, because we give the boys enough perspective that they really want to be part of this for the next few years.”
The hope and expectation of the club and the vast majority of fans will be that neither player is going anywhere in those next few years.
Liverpool need to strengthen their squad further rather than lose good players but being prepared is no bad thing either.
Salah’s arrival in the forward line allows Coutinho to move back into midfield, an area which the Reds want to enhance even further with the addition of Naby Keita or similar to their ranks.
Football, we all know, is a funny old game and who knows what is round the corner?
Liverpool’s first major move in this transfer window has, however, already left them much better prepared for whatever they meet than they were just a week ago.
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