Liverpool's squad requires investment, whether it is January or the summer transfer window, there is an undeniable truth that in order to keep pace then some changes have to be made.
There will almost certainly be money made available by owners Fenway Sports Group to manager Jurgen Klopp to strengthen in key areas, but how much and just where the funds may be allocated remains to be seen.
Liverpool have long been linked with Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, but as the months have gone by and the England international has made the transition from exciting prospect to bona fide world class operator, his value has also increased and it will take a fee likely more than £100m to prise him from the Bundesliga outfit, and that's before wages of £200,000 per week as a conservative estimate.
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The usual suspects will ensure that the market is competitive, with the spending power of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United remaining undiminished.
Liverpool have long traded on their success and strategy under Klopp when bringing in new talent, a tactic that had worked wonders up to the end of last season, but at a time when change is inescapable for the Reds squad, the landscape has changed somewhat and new threats have emerged.
Newcastle United's capture of Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon in January was seen as a statement of what was to come under the ownership of Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
Since his arrival the 24-year-old has blossomed into one of the Premier League's elite performers, his displays seeing him linked with moves elsewhere, including Liverpool.
Liverpool's last acquisition from Newcastle was that of Gini Wijnaldum, signed in the summer of 2016 following the Magpies relegation to the Championship. The signing of the Dutchman would prove inspired, Wijnaldum going on to establish himself as a key cog in the Reds' Champions League and Premier League winning teams before departing for a big deal at Paris Saint-Germain.
Newcastle's stock was low at the time, and Liverpool's assessment of players as individuals away from what they may have achieved as part of a collective meant that they were able to acquire players at a cut price, the £23m signing of Wijnaldum proving a snip.
Liverpool's links with Guimaraes aren't surprising. While analysts at the CIES Football Observatory in Switzerland peg his value at around €40m (£34.6m) his actual value to Newcastle will probably be some £20m more, maybe higher, and Newcastle's new found wealth means that they do not have to feel as threatened by the so-called 'big six', a position emboldened by their strong start and the struggles endured thus far in the league by Liverpool.
But another new challenge exists in the wages that the likes of Newcastle are now able to offer to retain their key players and stop the talent drain that keeps teams confined to the place outside the elite.
Reports in the Daily Mail suggest that Newcastle are willing to offer Guimaraes a new deal worth £200,000 per week in order to stave off interest from other clubs. Guimaraes is a player who looks like someone who could make a major impression in the Liverpool midfield, possessing a number of the qualities the Reds have lacked this season.
But with Newcastle's willingness to spend to keep their top assets, not just a willingness to spend to acquire them, it is a statement of intent. Liverpool's top earners after Mohamed Salah stand at around the £200,000 mark, and the Magpies, with plenty of room for manoeuvre when it comes to the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules, will likely be willing to do what it takes to keep their star man.
Whether it is pursuing a deal for Guimaraes or whether it is facing competition for another target, the impact of the Magpies' PIF takeover is beginning to be felt by the Reds and the rest of the top six, and in a transfer market that is already competitive, another party at the table willing to disrupt the established order means that the challenge is greater than the one that faced Liverpool six years ago.
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