If Cody Gakpo didn't quite understand the significance of what he was doing, rest assured Liverpool most certainly did.
When the new Reds signing was asked by the club to pose with his new shirt in front of a Christmas tree at the AXA Training Centre ahead of his official unveiling on Wednesday evening, it echoed a famous image of one of his Dutch compatriots and new Anfield team-mates.
Almost five years ago to the day, Virgil van Dijk had been snapped in similar fashion after his long-touted transfer to Liverpool had been finally confirmed for the January transfer window.
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Should Gakpo prove even half as successful as the centre-back, the Reds will have extracted full value from their initial £37m outlay for the 23-year-old forward. And his imminent arrival from PSV Eindhoven will further strengthen the Dutch influence on Jurgen Klopp's squad.
Van Dijk continues to prove himself one of the best defenders in the game while assistant manager Pep Lijnders has been integral to Liverpool's success during recent seasons. And having been one of Klopp's first signings back in July 2016, Gini Wijnaldum spent five years as a midfield ever-present as the Reds swept the honours board.
However, both Van Dijk and Wijnaldum where recruited from Premier League clubs, whereas for Gakpo this will be a first step outside Holland at club level, although his goalscoring performances in helping his country reach the World Cup quarter-finals earlier this month indicate a player ready for the next step up.
And while the Reds haven't regularly pilfered the Dutch league for talent, their hit rate has historically been pretty high.
Liverpool have twice moved for youngsters from the Eredivisie during Klopp's tenure, Sepp van den Berg taken from PEC Zwolle while Ki-Jana Hoever arrived from the Ajax youth team. The former is currently recovering from a serious injury suffered while on loan at German side Schalke, while Hoever, after four senior appearances, was sold for an initial £9.5m to Wolverhampton Wanderers and is currently on loan at Gakpo's former club PSV.
The first major signing from Holland was back in 1984 when Denmark international Jan Molby was asked to fill the hole left by Graeme Souness after arriving from Ajax. The pass master, Molby was Liverpool's best player when the double of league title and FA Cup was won in 1986 and claimed one more of each during more than 10 years and almost 300 appearances at the club.
Sami Hyypia can rightly claim to be one of the great bargains in Liverpool history when signed for just £2.5m from Willem II in 1999. He went on to play 464 games and won eight major honours during a decade at Anfield.
Liverpool also turned to Holland for goalkeepers around the turn of the millennium. Sander Westerveld became the most expensive keeper in England at the time when moving from Vitesse Arnhem for £4m in 1999 and was between the sticks for the cup treble season of 2000/01. However, he was soon jettisoned for Jerzy Dudek, who arrived for just under £5m from Feyenoord and made almost 200 outings, the most famous of which came with his wobbly legs in the Champions League final in 2005.
In terms of fan favourites, few surpassed the admiration for the endeavour of Dirk Kuyt following his signing, also from Feyenoord, for £9m in 2006, the forward playing nearly 300 games in six years. But perhaps the most talented player Liverpool recruited from Holland was Luis Suarez, transferred from Ajax for £22.8m in January 2011. Controversy was never too far away from the Uruguayan, but 82 goals in 133 appearances tells its own story before his £65m exit to Barcelona in 2014.
Ryan Babel, who signed from Ajax from £11.5m in 2007, undoubtedly struggled to realise his potential. But the only real failure was Morocco winger Oussama Assaidi, surprisingly bought from Heerenveen for £2.4m August 2012 before playing only 12 games without scoring once.
Gakpo, then, will hope to be in the majority when it comes to Liverpool signings from Holland. After all, there's a Christmas tradition to now uphold.
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