How do you improve on near perfection? That is the poser with which Liverpool are now grappling as they look to continue the transformation towards Jurgen Klopp's second team of his Anfield tenure.
Having been beaten by one point to the Premier League title and one goal to the Champions League crown - with the League Cup and FA Cup already secured - there may, at least in terms of raw numbers, appear only a little extra required to bridge the gap.
Such a final step, though, is always the hardest, particularly when the constant evolution of the Liverpool squad has seen the inevitable breakup of previous key tenets under Klopp.
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Not least in attack, where the triumvirate of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino started together in only five of 63 games this season. Diogo Jota and, latterly, Luis Diaz are now regular contenders for a role.
In any case, Mane appears increasingly likely to have played his last game for Liverpool with Bayern Munich readying a second bid to lure away the Senegalese. And with Salah still stalling over a new deal, as things stand he'll soon be entering his final season as a Reds player. So too Firmino, although it's understood the Brazilian would be receptive to a contract extension should one be forthcoming. Divock Origi has already gone, with doubts over the long-term future of Takumi Minamino.
Julian Ward, taking over from the departing Michael Edwards as sporting director, faces an onerous task in continuing the attacking rebuild.
In recent years, the job has been to attract forwards who knew they had to force their way into the front three. While not every prospective signing fancied the prospect of not having guaranteed game time, Jota met the challenge head on.
Now, though, the aim is to replenish the attack without any great loss in quality. And that won't come cheap.
Salah and Mane - and to a lesser extent Firmino - were not quite the finished article when they arrived at Liverpool for £43.9m and £30m respectively. Good players, yes. But working at Liverpool turned them into great ones, among the best in the world at their peak. They have set the bar for those who follow.
It is impossible, not least from a financial viewpoint, to instantly replace like for like, with Liverpool instead sticking to their tried and trusted formula of looking for established talent they feel they can improve at the AXA Training Centre. A shortlist of potential replacements has been drawn up should Mane depart, a younger forward with an ability to play down the centre the preferred target.
The problem is everyone knows the Reds' situation. And that will only increase the asking price of any player, even if Liverpool are bolstered by the funds of Mane's sale with any potential suitor compelled to reach nearer £40m before an offer is seriously entertained.
Take the case of Darwin Nunez. While a player greatly admired by Klopp and the recruitment team, the reported price tag of £85m is simply too expensive. Manchester United and Newcastle United, thought to both be considering a move for the 22-year-old, can afford to pay over the odds for the forward. Liverpool will not, sticking to the principles that have served them so well in the transfer market under Klopp and Fenway Sports Group. If Benfica want to do business at a price the Reds feel is approaching more realistic, things could change.
Nunez has plenty of development remaining, similar to other players Liverpool have been linked with in previous transfer windows such as Lille's Jonathan David - a centre forward - and Jarrod Bowen of West Ham United, who features more out wide.
At least the Reds know that with Klopp revered as one of the finest managers in Europe and the success of his tenure making Anfield a sought-after destination, persuading potential targets is no longer as major an issue as it was just five or six years ago.
But continuing the change of the forward line within long-established transfer parameters will be a test for Ward and Liverpool's similarly-evolving recruitment team.
