Liverpool's green shoots of recovery are starting to sprout.
After so much uncertainty over much of the past two years, Friday's financial results paint the picture of steady and solid, if not quite spectacular, recovery.
Less than 12 months ago, the sums suggested that it had been a bleak year for the Reds as the football world adjusted to the implications of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Media revenue had fallen by £59m, match-day revenue had dropped £13m and the overall bottom line had tumbled by as much as £43m to £490m.
Liverpool's loss-before-tax sum stood at £46m as Anfield officials attempted to tighten their belts.
Friday's numbers are healthier and although the bottom line was reduced by a further £3m for the year of May 31, 2021, media revenue has risen from £64.5m to a whopping £266.1m, while commercial numbers increased to £217m.
Understandably, match-day revenue dropped drastically but the 95 per cent dip is explained entirely by a season spent behind closed doors and that figure will rise sharply when 2022's details are released.
But what, if anything, does this mean for the Liverpool on the pitch this season?
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Well, the upturn in literal fortunes suggest that they will be able to at least remain as competitive as they have been in the transfer market in recent years.
Club owners Fenway Sports Group have their critics, but since September 2020, Jurgen Klopp has been able to add as many as five important pieces to a squad that many now champion as the strongest in decades at Anfield.
If we are to include players' potential add-ons as their transfer fee, then the club have spent close to £170m in around 18 months on Ibrahima Konate (£36m), Thiago Alcantara (£25m), Diogo Jota (£45m), Kostas Tsimikas (£11m) and Luis Diaz (£50m).
And while Liverpool are unlikely to ever be able to compete every window with Manchester City and Chelsea, the recent figures are more than enough to suggest that the current level of squad replenishment can continue.
With Klopp 's side still on course for a quadruple as we edge ever closer into the month of March, few without an agenda can surely grumble at that for now.
If there is a player that Liverpool's scouting and recruitment team identify and Klopp wants to bring to Anfield, then there are likely to be few hurdles encountered at boardroom level.
Even if the level of spending is not always to everyone's liking within the fanbase, a high turnover within the playing staff suggests there is a transfer policy that is failing.
Liverpool, as it stands right now, are playing it to perfection on that front.
One potential area of intrigue, however, is the revelation that the wage bill has decreased by as much as £11m - despite the raft of new deals over the summer.
From £325m to £314m, the initial drop seems puzzling when you consider that the contracts agreed for the likes of Harvey Elliott, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho were inclusive of the figures released on Friday.
The ECHO understands that most of those contracts announced over the summer have been included in the latest sums and it would be entirely fair to assume that every player who signed a new deal has been given a significant pay rise.
But the drop in figure for a team with one of the biggest wage bills in football will be a welcome development at a time when a certain Mohamed Salah remains tethered to terms agreed as far back as June 2018.
A new contract for the Egyptian must surely remain a top priority for FSG president Mike Gordon, incoming sporting director Julian Ward and Klopp himself - even if the manager tends to steer clear of dealing directly with those sorts of negotiations.
But while Friday's results are not exactly night and day from last year's, they certainly point towards a club navigating a prosperous route out of the pandemic maze.
“It is imperative however that we continue to live within our means and operate within football’s regulations and financial fair play," said managing director Andy Hughes.
"But we’ll continue to reinvest on and off the pitch to further strengthen our position and compete at the highest levels right across the club."
The best way to "reinvest" and "strengthen further" after Friday's good news would be a shiny new contract on the coffee table of Salah, sooner rather than later.
