As the transfer rumour mill prepares to enter its annual summer overdrive, Liverpool will be taking up something of a watching brief from July onwards.
Recruitment work behind the scenes never stops inside the corridors of Anfield power, but the feeling from within the camp is that the business has been concluded early, certainly from an incoming perspective, at least.
With Calvin Ramsay and Fabio Carvalho arriving as two of the most exciting teenage prospects in the United Kingdom, the potential club-record outlay for Darwin Nunez from Benfica is the one that is really intriguing the Liverpool fanbase.
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An initial £64m signing from Benfica, Nunez's eventual sum could break the £85m mark if he becomes a success under Jurgen Klopp's guidance in the next few years.
Anfield sources have been quick to suggest that the incoming business is done, although such an arbitrary and self-imposed deadline can easily be discarded if something sensational presents itself to Liverpool officials between now and the end of August.
But for now, it is largely the outgoings that will consume the time of the transfer team in the coming weeks and months.
And one player whose future has been the subject of some speculation is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The former Arsenal man did not play a single minute past the 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup in March and became something of a forgotten man in the final weeks of a thrilling, long-haul campaign.
With Klopp having virtually a full complement of midfield options available to him for the final few months, Oxlade-Chamberlain found himself on the fringes of proceedings and with just a year left on his contract, speculation has inevitably increased.
Liverpool, it is understood, are preparing for the campaign with him in their ranks and are not particularly open to offers. The stable nature of the club's finances means they are under no pressure to ease the wage bill, even with a squad player like Oxlade-Chamberlain reportedly earning around £120,000 a week at Anfield.
Only four other regular outfield members of the Liverpool squad played less than Oxlade-Chamberlain's 785 Premier League minutes last term, highlighting just how competitive the midfield ranks are when fitness issues aren't a huge concern.
To some, then, the idea of cashing in on a player who is inside the final 12 months of his contract seems prudent, even if the fee is likely to be far below what represents the true value of a 27-year-old versatile midfielder who has helped win it all at Anfield since his arrival from Arsenal five years ago.
And while trimming the excess off a bloated wage bill will always be considered sensible as Liverpool continue to assess the potential for contract renewals for the likes of Naby Keita, Joe Gomez and, yes, Mohamed Salah, the upside of offloading Oxlade-Chamberlain this summer is limited.
His dwindling game-time more than hints at a player who is some way down the pecking order, but with Liverpool in a place of financial comfort, selling Oxlade-Chamberlain without a direct replacement this summer would just leave Klopp unnecessarily short as the fight on all fronts prepares to gear up once more.
He is likely to be more valuable to them as a squad player over the next year than he is if he was to move on for a cut-price sum that is unlikely to be reinvested this summer.
If Liverpool are happy to keep their powder dry for when the landscape might look a little bit different - particularly with regards to Borussia Dortmund's willingness to talk numbers over Jude Bellingham - then there is surely no need to look into the possibility of selling Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is settled in the North West with his newborn child and fiance Perrie Edwards.
It is true that Liverpool briefly explored the possibility of signing Aurelien Tchouameni from Monaco earlier this year before being quickly made aware that the France international had his heart set on a move to Real Madrid.
That fact has emboldened the belief for some that an all-star midfielder has been demanded by Klopp and his staff this summer, but the reality is that Liverpool were told very early about Tchouameni's intentions and club officials are relaxed about another addition arriving in the engine room.
The apparent unwillingness to turn that interest to other targets is reminiscent of when Klopp opted not to pursue an alternative playmaker when a £50m deal for Nabil Fekir fell through four years ago. For the Reds boss, more often than not, his first choice is his only choice in the transfer market.
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