For Liverpool fans all that appears to remain is Darwin Nunez to be officially announced a Reds player.
The Uruguayan is undertaking a medical ahead of completing a deal that could end up being worth as much as £85m, should the add-ons that have been negotiated be triggered.
The overall value of the deal represents a club record fee for a player for the Reds, with owners Fenway Sports Group having been willing to back manager Jurgen Klopp in January with the signing of Luis Diaz in a deal worth up to £49m from, and now Nunez from Benfica. In between those deals they moved to extend Klopp's own Anfield stay until at least 2026.
Nunez had been a player on the radar of many of European football's biggest clubs with the 22-year-old's record of 26 goals in 28 Primeira Liga games, 34 in 41 in all competitions this season, placing him among the elite crop of talent set to dominate football on the continent for the next decade.
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Getting deals of this magnitude done are not simple. First off, the selling club know that they have an asset that everybody wants and they are willing to raise the bar as much as possible to get the price that they want for the player. But they also know that the player will likely want to move and take the challenge of a bigger club on a bigger stage and they have to have an element of reality in terms of what they are willing to accept.
Liverpool wanted Nunez and Nunez wanted Liverpool. That part of the equation was simple. However, thrashing out a deal with an elite young star at a time when other clubs, some with more money to spend, are lurking in the background ready to make a move of their own, leaves little room for error. The more protracted the discussions become, the more chance of a deal being hijacked.
So how did Liverpool and Benfica reach their deal structure?
Daniel Geey, a renowned UK sports lawyer and author of the book 'Done Deal: An Insider's Guide to Football Contracts, Multi-Million Pound Transfers and Premier League Big Business', is someone who has worked with clubs, players and agents to advise on takeovers, transfer deals and contract re-negotiations, among many other things.
"When negotiating deals like this the selling club will want to know what is guaranteed from the buying club," Geey told the ECHO.
"Selling clubs want to achieve the highest upfront cost they possibly can as it aids cashflow, and for some clubs the need for funds to improve cashflow is more important that others.
"When they agree a guaranteed sum they look at what will be paid, and when. How much is due at the completion of the deal? How much on the first anniversary of the deal? How much on the second? These are what the selling clubs want to know as these are guaranteed sums of money that will be coming into the business. The variables can't be planned for.
"The onus is then on the buying club to make the variables work while still making the deal attractive. In the case of Nunez, Benfica will undoubtedly have wanted add-ons that are achievable in order to give them the best chance of bumping up the value of the deal in the future."
According to reports in the Portuguese media, the deal between Benfica and Liverpool for Nunez includes a number of triggers for add-ons, including money due for 10 appearances, 60 appearances, and the rest made up of individual and team performance during the length of the player's contract. Having triggers for add-ons related to appearances for Nunez isn't something that would be preferable for Liverpool, Geey suggests, but with pressure on to strike a deal they have gone some way to bend to the Portuguese side, who initially wanted £85m guaranteed for Nunez.
"But when spending big money on a player big clubs usually try and stay away from things such as appearance add-ons as it is highly likely that these expensive players will be playing a lot of football for them," said Geey.
"They also aim less for personal milestones. Say Nunez scored 35 goals, Liverpool would much rather add-on something like Champions League qualification instead as it is based upon team success that generates revenue that will ultimately be able to offset the fees due for triggering add-ons."
Manchester City finally confirmed their signing of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund on Monday. The 21-year-old arrives at the Premier League champions after they met his release clause of £51m. That money seems something of a bargain for European football's most prized young asset, but with wages of a reported £375,000 per week, on a par with that of Kevin De Bruyne, that is a £19.5m per year commitment, although something that City are able to afford.
Nunez's wage demands will be lower, considerably. Coming from a smaller market league the ability to demand that kind of money just won't be there yet, but that isn't to say that he hasn't got the power to earn considerable sums from any Liverpool deal that he signs, a deal that will likely reflect the importance that Liverpool will place upon him with regards to their future plans.
"I would be shocked if there were not a number of significant uplifts in Nunez's Liverpool contract," said Geey.
"It will almost certainly be a dynamic contract that will increase in value over time, but it will be something that FSG are comfortable with.
"It's not so much the transfer fee that FSG mind, it is the wage liability that they would have to undertake over the life of the contract. They know that they have to get their wage structure right as it can have a knock-on effect when it comes to other new arrivals or existing members of the squad renegotiating their own deals."
