Now more than ever, Jurgen Klopp can sit back in his office and marvel at the level of talent in his outstanding Liverpool squad.
If the fact they're still on for an unprecedented quadruple in the first week of May isn't enough evidence, then maybe their eye-watering tally of 139 goals this season across four competitions will hammer the point home. But despite an attack which includes Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz to name but a few, Klopp will soon encounter one electric forward that got away.
On the night that could turn the quadruple dream into reality, the Reds face Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday, May 28 for a mouth-watering Champions League final. There, the Liverpool manager will watch from the dugout as Los Blancos hero Rodrygo and his teammates bid to win a record 14th European Cup - but it won't be the first he's seen the 21-year-old up close and personal.
According to the Brazilian's agent, Nick Arcuri, Klopp was keen to sign Rodrygo when he was only 16 and still plying his trade in his homeland with Santos. The Reds boss was so fascinated, he reportedly made a trip to Sao Paulo to get a better idea of his transfer target's pedigree.
"When Rodrygo went to sign his first professional contract with Santos, aged 16, a Liverpool director called me saying that Klopp already knew the player, had seen the material, had already come to see Rodrygo personally," Arcuri explained to Canal do Nicola. "He had gone on YouTube, searched 'talents from Brazil', Rodrygo had appeared and he was very young.
"He came to Brazil and liked him. They contacted me, the Liverpool director wanted him to be his first signing, Rodrygo. I went to England, sat in London, Liverpool have an office in London. I brought the proposal to Modesto [Roma Junior], then president of Santos.
"Modesto didn't accept. It turned out that Santos didn't want to sell Rodrygo and instead made the first professional contract. But it was Rodrygo's first official proposal, he was 16 and it was Liverpool."
While Klopp's apparent trip can be disputed, it does appear clear that Liverpool were seriously interested in signing Rodrygo.
Ex- Manchester City midfielder Elano Blumer managed the winger at Santos and revealed that Rodrygo rejected the Reds' advances in favour of Madrid, dealing the Anfield recruitment team a rare blow at the beginning of Klopp's era. "There was a period when there was a very strong negotiation from Liverpool for him to leave when he was still very young," Elano told ESPN.
"The values were very low, but he wanted to go. Real's offer later was around €30million (£25m) more. I had a conversation with people at Santos and I said that the boy was worth the bet and we should raise him because I would like to work with him. Thank God everything worked out thanks to Rodrygo."
Now, after a £38million transfer in 2018 and a few campaigns finding his feet, it's Carlo Ancelotti who boasts the five-capped Brazil international in his ranks, notably utilising his speed and eye for goal from late on in Champions League knockout matches.
As a substitute, Rodrygo scored a decisive equaliser to take Real's quarter-final against Chelsea to extra-time, where Karim Benzema did the rest. And in Wednesday's epic semi-final clash with Man City, the Samba sensation stunned the Santiago Bernabeu by scoring two goals in as many injury-time minutes to force an extra half an hour of action once more after being subbed on.
Although the well-taken headers that sunk Pep Guardiola and co aren't his forte, Rodrygo has been able to showcase his tricky talents on the domestic front this term. Since the Chelsea second leg, he's registered four director goal contributions in three LaLiga games to help Los Blancos clinch the title with four fixtures to spare.
With the final and No.14 now their sole focus, Rodrygo already has his sights set on making Liverpool regret their low offer in just over three weeks' time. "I'm really happy to be able to score two goals in the semi-final and get Madrid to the place where they always belong – the Champions League final – and to win it," he declared post-match on Wednesday.
"I couldn't hear what my teammates were saying to me because I couldn't believe what was happening. We were losing the game, my first goal in the 90th minute and we were dead, and then what happened was what happened.
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"That's my best version of myself in the Champions League, and I hope I can continue to score a lot more times. In this shirt, we learn to always fight until the end and that's the way it was.
"We conceded a goal and we were almost dead, but with my first goal we started to believe because we've fought back in other games, and then came the second. From right now, we turn our attentions to Liverpool. We have another four LaLiga games we can use to prepare for the final."
