Among the many famous soundbites of Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, there's one he uttered back in 2016 that holds as much weight today as it did back then.
Speaking about the task of recruiting top players at a time when he was unable to offer Champions League football, the Reds boss used the metaphor of a train to succinctly convey his stance on the situation.
"If I would speak to a player now and he would tell me: ‘If you were playing in the Champions League next year I would be really interested’, I would put the phone down from my side. I am not interested," Klopp said at the start of April in 2016.
“I always tell players if when you are 35 or 36 and look back on your career and you think about the one year when you didn’t play Champions League then you are really a poor boy.
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“There are so many things you can do and reach if you go together with the team. You can qualify for the Champions League, play Champions League, maybe win it or whatever. It is a much more satisfying thing than all the rest. That is what I would say. It is pushing the train, not jumping on the running train. That is what we need here."
Flash forward over seven years and those words remain as prescient as the day they were first spoken. Maybe even more so. With Liverpool unable to offer Champions League football to transfer targets for the first time since the 2016/17 campaign, some have inevitably become concerned over the level of player the Reds are able to attract as a result.
At a time when a significant rebuild is needed, particularly in midfield, losing out on the Champions League bounty is a major blow for a club who are bound by the strictly self-sufficient nature of the ownership model favoured by Fenway Sports Group.
While it might sound like a convenient, ready-made excuse for those at the top of the club to use when it comes to the scale of the task needed to get Liverpool back to the summit of the English game, there is little denial from those of a fair mind that the absence of funds from the lucrative, modern-day version of the European Cup will impinge.
That being said, the move for Dominik Szoboszlai is proof that Champions League is not the be-all-and-end-all for those the Reds are coveting.
It's understood that RB Leipzig midfielder Szoboszlai, who was being courted by Newcastle United, has made it clear that he wanted to work under Klopp above all else, shunning the opportunity to play in the Champions League next season with the Magpies as a result.
After speaking to the player's representatives this week, Liverpool last night agreed to trigger the £60m release clause in his Leipzig contract. Szoboszlai has made his intentions known.
Even for a club as decorated and as well-supported across the world as Liverpool, the pull of Klopp remains the major piece of weaponry in the arsenal to attract players.
The same goes for Alexis Mac Allister, who spoke in gushing terms about his new manager when he completed his £35m move from Brighton & Hove Albion in early June.
The Reds' new No.10 said: "I had the chance to talk to him and it was one of the most important factors in making the decision so early in the market. I saw the desire to sign me, so for me it was very important. We talked about football, how he sees it and the desire for the club to continue growing and winning titles."
For a club who are distanced from Europe's top table for the coming campaign - and one who are unable to pay the sort of sums some of their rivals can routinely fork out - the star power of Klopp is a major selling point for would-be targets.
And as evidenced by the potential arrival of Szoboszlai, it remains in full working order, all these years on.
