In hindsight, Diogo Jota's hopes for another encouraging season at Liverpool were over before they'd even had chance to gain traction.
Twelve months ago, the Reds striker was among the party that flew out to the Far East for the start of pre-season having recovered from a hamstring issue suffered when on international duty with Portugal the previous month.
Well, at least that was the belief. Instead, in his first full training in session in Singapore, Jota pulled up with a recurrence of the issue that delayed his season bow until September, one of several players to have been hampered by the short break between campaigns as a consequence of the winter World Cup.
And after the false start came another in October. Just eight appearances later, Jota sustained a serious calf injury in the final minute of the Premier League win over Manchester City at Anfield and wasn't seen again until February - missing the World Cup in the process - by which time the Reds had fallen 11 points off the top four, a gap they were ultimately unable to bridge.
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The return of Jota, though, coincided with a significant change in Liverpool's fortunes. Having taken only 29 points from the first 20 games, the Reds then accrued 38 from the final 18 matches, a tally surpassed by only Manchester City's return of 44 points in the same period. Jurgen Klopp's side lost only at City and Bournemouth, and ended the season with an 11-game unbeaten run.
Key to that strong finish was the form of Jota, even if it wasn't always from a starting role. The turning point came with his double strike in the 6-1 win at Leeds United in April, his first goals after a barren run that stretched 373 days.
“This season has been really really hard, struggling with injuries," said Jota afterwards. "Now, I’m trying to get that momentum and games like today will certainly help for that. It’s part of football, you try to always believe in yourself but obviously, when you do get the goal, everything becomes easier in the player’s mind.”
Sure enough, five days later Jota scored another brace in the 3-2 home win over Nottingham Forest, and the following weekend came off the bench to net a dramatic injury-time decider in the 4-3 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur.
But arguably the best example of Jota's new-found confidence came in the final game at Southampton when, having earlier opened the scoring when capitalising on a defensive mistake, he was sent clear by Mohamed Salah and unleashed a venomous shot from range to earn a 4-4 draw. It was prime Jota - devastating, decisive and direct.
After all the travails, the Portuguese no doubt wouldn't have wanted the season to end, finishing with a respectable seven goals and eight assists in 28 appearances.
And his showing, along with recovery of similarly-crocked Luis Diaz and the instant impact of January signing Cody Gakpo, is why Liverpool are not pursuing another forward this transfer window, despite the departure of the talismanic Roberto Firmino on a free transfer and youngster Fabio Carvalho to RB Leipzig on a season-long loan.
Nevertheless, the competition for places will be intense, with Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Jota all vying for a central striking role, and the trio plus Diaz all capable of being employed on the left flank. Jota and Gakpo have also previously been used as a second striker.
While Jota has also previously played a number of games on the right flank, only one - the goalless draw at Chelsea - came last season, with new midfield signing Dominik Szoboszlai a more natural fit for the role when regular Mohamed Salah is rested or, in the New Year, absent on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt.
Jota was among the players returning to the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday morning ahead of the pre-season programme that will again take in a trip to Singapore later this month. The Liverpool striker will hope the portents are less ominous this time around.
