With a subtle wink and a knowing nod, Virgil van Dijk let the cat right out of the bag on Boxing Night at Villa Park.
No sooner had Liverpool's players left the pitch after a hard-fought 3-1 Premier League victory, Van Dijk was dropping hints about what would be about to come for Reds fans.
"Hopefully the injured players can come back soon, and hopefully we can welcome some new players at our football club," he said "We will see. I think that quality is always welcome at Liverpool."
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The Dutch defender clearly knew something most others didn't. Within minutes it was being announced that Liverpool had agreed a deal to sign Van Dijk's international colleague Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven.
As has become the trademark for Liverpool's recruitment department, they moved quickly and quietly to tie up a deal for the Eredivisie's top scorer. Talks, it is understood, progressed significantly just before Christmas before it was confirmed by the Dutch side later that night that Gakpo was indeed bound for Merseyside.
"PSV and Liverpool FC have reached an agreement on the proposed transfer of Cody Gakpo," they wrote in a post on their official website. "The 23-year-old attacker will leave for England imminently where he will be subjected to the necessary formalities ahead of the completion of the transfer. Both clubs are not making any announcements about the transfer fee."
The fee, which PSV say is a record for their club, is understood to be worth an initial £37m with add-ons expected to take it to somewhere between the £45m and £50m mark. It completes a busy few days behind the scenes at Liverpool after they moved with surgical precision to ensure it is they and not Manchester United who are welcoming the reigning Dutch Player of the Year to England in 2023.
Anfield insiders have likened the deal to that of Luis Diaz at the start of the year and there are ample comparisons between the two respective transfers. Liverpool had initially earmarked Diaz to be a summer signing from Porto but were made to act decisively in late January when Tottenham Hotspur made their interest known.
Liverpool were forced to send a delegate to Argentina, where Colombia were playing, and utilise the goodwill of the Los Cafeteros' national team to ensure Diaz was able to complete the medical in time to sign before the close of the January window.
Nearly 12 months on, the Reds' vaunted recruitment team were again hard at it behind the scenes over the festive period to nudge ahead of United, whose manager Erik ten Hag has a long-standing interest in the No.1 rising star of football in the Netherlands right now.
Like Tottenham at the start of the year, it is United who are missing out to Liverpool once more and much of the credit should be laid at the door of outgoing sporting director Julian Ward, who is believed to have sacrificed much of his festive period to ensure talks progressed significantly and smoothly with his PSV counterpart, Marcel Brands.
Ward was tasked with refreshing Liverpool's forward department at the turn of the year as he continued his soft launch into the eventual role as official sporting director at the end of last season. Inside 12 months the former loan and pathways manager has significantly reduced the average age of the Reds frontline by adding Diaz (25), Darwin Nunez (23) and now Gakpo (23) to the ranks. Diogo Jota's new deal, which was signed in August, was another tentpole of that considered, long-term strategy.
It also takes the club spending close to the £140m mark for initial fees for all three of those players and should every add-on be unlocked for Gakpo, Nunez and Diaz, Liverpool will have spent around £185m on restructuring their attack for the long term. For a club whose owners are often accused of parsimony, it is a quite the outlay for a calendar year.
Add in first-team players such as Ibrahima Konate (23), Trent Alexander-Arnold (24), Harvey Elliott (19) and Fabio Carvalho (20) alongside emerging teen talents like Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak and Calvin Ramsay and it is clear that Liverpool, while looking at the here and now, are keeping a firm grasp on the future too.
Perhaps, at the age of 19, a certain Jude Bellingham is next on the Liverpool wishlist? There is no doubting that Klopp is a huge admirer of the Borussia Dortmund midfielder, even if the transfer fee for the England international is expected to be one of club-record proportions if that particular race is won. A lot will surely depend on the Reds' Champions League status next summer.
Once it became clear that PSV were open to doing business in the winter months, the Reds did not hesitate over Gakpo, particularly given the paucity of options available right now with injuries to Diaz and Jota. With the latter not expected back until around February and Diaz convalescing after knee surgery earlier this month, Gakpo is needed in the here and now as much as he will be for the long term at Anfield.
It's easy to see what Jurgen Klopp sees in the 23-year-old. Like most of the manager's forward options, he is capable of operating in a number of roles across the forward line. He's quick, strong and his finishing instincts, as evidenced by his three-goal return in five games at the World Cup, are sharp. At his age, Liverpool believe he will only improve as he gathers more experience of top-level football.
The unexpected announcement of Gakpo is not the first time Liverpool have given their supporters a belated Christmas gift, of course. It was five years ago to the day now when the Reds dropped the news that Van Dijk was to become their player in January 2018.
The picture of him posing with the Liverpool shirt in front of the Christmas tree has since become an iconic one; the moment when Klopp's side went from pretenders to contenders.
Things, it seems, have come full circle on that score with Van Dijk apparently now the man to break the news of future recruits. The Oranje skipper will no doubt have been a sounding board for Gakpo over all things Anfield during the World Cup and Liverpool's No.4 will be instrumental in helping his national colleague settle in the early weeks and months on Merseyside.
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