For years now Liverpool's reputation in recruitment has been the envy of football.
The last six seasons have seen the Reds go from top-four hopefuls to a team who are now competing for an unprecedented quadruple as we enter April with largely the same squad that has already delivered the Premier League, Champions League and a first-ever Club World Cup to the Anfield trophy room.
The influence and ability of manager Jurgen Klopp has, of course, been a driving force behind the success enjoyed at the club in recent years, but none of it would have been made possible without the right players.
Since the summer of 2016, Liverpool have brought in Sadio Mane, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Alisson Becker, Naby Keita, Takumi Minamino, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Thiago Alcantara, Harvey Elliott, Kostas Tsimikas and Ibrahima Konate, while Gini Wijnaldum and Xherdan Shaqiri have since left having played their parts in English and continental triumphs.
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For a club who are often critiqued over their apparent inertia where the transfer market is concerned, it is quite the assembly of top-class operators. Mistakes, evidently, are rarely made when it comes to bringing in the right type of player with the desired personality.
But while plenty of rivals may be left scratching their heads over just what Liverpool's secret is, the reality is an easy one to arrive at. With the Reds needing to keep pace with more well-heeled clubs like Chelsea, Man City and Manchester United domestically, as well as the giants of European football, it is only hard work and ingenuity that the Reds fall back on.
Another key element is the relationships they enjoy throughout the game. Whether it is Klopp leaning on the recommendations of old friends or sporting director Michael Edwards rifling through his bulging contacts book, Liverpool seek the counsel of the well-informed before any green lights are given.
When Liverpool were deliberating over a three-man attacking shortlist in the summer of 2020, it was Pep Lijnders who spoke to trusted allies at Porto for a glowing reference on Diogo Jota, who eventually fought off competition from Ismaila Sarr and Jonathan David to become the Reds' new £45m man.
Liverpool's assistant boss spent eight years at Porto in his formative days as a coach and spoke to several at the biggest club in Portugal about Jota as interest started to gather pace behind the scenes.
"Through his contacts back in Portuguese football, Pep was given glowing references on the player's character and he believes [Jota] can become a difference maker within our framework over time," said one source at the time.
In recent years, Liverpool's burgeoning relationships with those within Portuguese football has been a huge benefit to the club.
Their good working terms with the agency of Jorge Mendes, for example, were instrumental in them being able to conclude negotiations for Fabinho with discretion in 2018. Most Reds fans were still consoling themselves over a Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid when a £40m deal was being announced for the midfielder to join from Monaco.
The relationship with the Gestifute agency was only strengthened when they were able to add Jota to their squad in September 2020. Again, his arrival from Wolves was conducted quietly, joining around 24 hours after Thiago Alcantara.
The Reds' friendship with Porto was also evidenced when Marko Grujic was the subject of strong interest after his performances in the Champions League while on loan with the Dragons last season.
Liverpool, it is understood, were inundated with calls about the midfielder but wanted to wait to speak to Porto directly first and with Sergio Conceicao's side having so much to play for at the time of those particular enquiries, the Reds decided to hold off as a courtesy.
Their closeness with Porto was also leaned on in January after Tottenham had made a move for Luis Diaz late in the transfer window. Having initially identified Diaz as a summer target, those plans were forcibly brought forward to make sure they did not miss out on the Colombian international.
Anfield sources praised the work of both Diaz's Colombian-based agent, Carlos van Strahalen and the Portuguese intermediary, Raul Pais da Costa, for helping Liverpool win the frantic race for the £50m winger as they dispatched a contingent to Argentina for a medical in the last weekend of the window.
Both agents were understood to be keen on selling the idea that Liverpool would be the right move for him and just a few short weeks into his time on Merseyside, it would seem to be the correct call by the 25-year-old.
One source who has followed his career path over the last few years says: "Luis Diaz was perfect for Liverpool. In terms of the type of player he is. I would say he is perfect for Liverpool 's style. He is a player with a lot of energy, on and off the ball. He scores goals, he is a team player. His link-up play is effective and he plays well with his back to goal.
"There is always a risk to take a player from Portugal or even a big team like Porto to the Premier League but the traits he has shown and the style of play, the skills and the position, is similar to what he was doing at Porto with what wingers do at Liverpool."
But it is not just the players who arrived at Anfield where those close ties within Portuguese football have served to benefit the Reds. In recent years the club were also given the opportunity to run the rule over Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix, it is understood.
Fernandes was a player who had plenty of admirers within the Liverpool recruitment team but there was an acceptance that his best form would come when performing as a No.10 where there is less defensive responsibility than a traditional midfielder.
Klopp has not played with an archetypal No.10 since he sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in 2018, with the three-man engine room needed to be more functional and predictable, so while Fernandes had plenty of upside to those in power at Anfield, he would eventually join Manchester United for a fee that could rise close to £70m.
That sum would have made Fernandes the second most expensive player in Liverpool history behind only Van Dijk and given the system tweak that would have been needed to extract the best from the Portugal international, it was decided that this was a player the club didn't need in January 2020.
Felix was attracting interest because of various factors. His versatility, age and quality all made Liverpool sit up and take notice when he was starring for Benfica in 2018. However, the £113m fee Atletico Madrid would eventually pay was viewed, understandably, as far too prohibitive for the Reds to act.
In more recent times, the links to Portuguese football's up-and-comers have continued to come with Liverpool linked with moves for both Porto pair Vitinha and Otavio in local press of late. In the case of the latter, the ECHO understands there is no interest in pursuing a deal for the 27-year-old midfielder.
Liverpool's recruitment department look at younger talent with their best years to come, with the deal to sign a 29-year-old Thiago from Bayern Munich in 2020 viewed as a special case given Anfield insiders believed him to be the outstanding midfielder of European football in 2020 who was joining for a cut-price fee of just £25m.
"The older players we've seen [who have been bought] are top players like Thiago who was the best European midfielder at Bayern and we signed him for a decent fee, but usually we don't sign players older than 24 or 25," says one source.
"Transfer fees, ages...you can make a filter to know what percentage of interest Liverpool could have on certain players. What happened with Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix, well, we didn't need these types of players at that moment.
"And also Felix was very expensive for Liverpool. Fernandes was maybe a bit more expensive than Liverpool would usually pay but the other problem was he is a No.10. Liverpool do not play with a No.10. He is a great player, of course, for Manchester United, but you see United play with a No.10 to get the best from him. So he is a good player but maybe not the right type of midfielder for Liverpool."
Vitinha, it is understood, presents a more realistic and intriguing prospect for the club at the age of 22, but it has been made clear by senior sources that a move at this stage seems highly unlikely as Klopp and his team continue to scour the market for the next generation at Liverpool.
