For some time there has been the date of 2024 looming on the horizon, a year when Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool contract comes to an end and when it had been long suggested he would end his remarkable tenure as manager of the Reds.
The highs of winning the 2019 Champions League and 2020 Premier League were followed by the challenges of trying to maintain their dominance through a pandemic, playing in front of an empty Anfield. The absence of fans hit every club, player and manager, but for a manager with such a special bond with supporters as Klopp has, one where they have often carried the Reds over the line in their time of need, those empty seats were a major drain.
Klopp's passion for what he does, his players, Liverpool Football Club, the fans and the city itself provide the bedrock for his success, something that when allied with his status as a world class manager has been a match made in heaven. But while the questions persisted during the pandemic around what he would do when his contract did expire, perhaps it was catching Klopp at a time when thinking about football in the long term through such a gruelling period made it difficult to comprehend doing it indefinitely.
