There was a time when Liverpool fans would have been desperate for their side to sign Jadon Sancho.
Recording goals and assists for fun for Borussia Dortmund, the England international was seen as an elite signing, and was regularly linked with a move to Anfield along with the likes of Kylian Mbappe.
As such, he was a transfer the Reds were regularly urged to complete, with Jurgen Klopp going public with his admiration for Sancho on a number of occasions and revealing that he's a player he loves to watch play.
"I love watching them but I have no problem that I have never trained one of them so far," the Liverpool boss previously said. "Mbappe probably has the biggest future. We can speak about Sancho as well. They are all coming up."
Klopp even admitted he had previously considering making a move for the south London-born winger when reflecting on his move to Dortmund.
"Buying English players is a smart idea because we would never have a chance to get Sancho," he revealed in 2019.
"We are not blind – we saw him, we liked him and then we think: 'can we get him?' No. Because English clubs don't sell to other English clubs.
"I don't know exactly what the reason is for that but they don't do it. Now they can go to Germany, which is a wonderful league."
As Liverpool won the Champions League and closed in on the Premier League title, this outside desire for a marquee signing continued to grow, though Klopp would distance the Reds from such a move in 2020.
"The red shirt (of Liverpool) would suit very well," Klopp said in an interview with German newspaper Bild . "I don't think such a transfer will be possible this season.
"He (Sancho) is a very interesting player. If he's coming to Liverpool I would be the most surprised of all of us."
As the financial ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic became clear over the past two years, Liverpool’s lack of major transfer activity left fans resigned to the fact the club simply wouldn’t be in the market when the most high-profile of players became available.
From wanting a marquee signing, they’d now settle for any signing, with tongue-in-cheek calls for the likes of #Mbappe2022 significantly quieter in the past 12 months.
In the summer of 2020, when Sancho first looked like making a return to the Premier League, supporters would have been keen for the Reds to be in the running, and certainly preferred his arrival to that of £45m man Diogo Jota, for example.
Fast-forward 12 months, following the Portuguese's impressive maiden campaign at Anfield, and another quiet year on the transfer front, and there would have been muted calls at best to follow up interest in Sancho, with fans begrudgingly aware of the club's place in such markets.
As such, it was no surprise that Liverpool made no effort to sign the 21-year-old when he joined Manchester United for £73m in June 2021 - despite the asking price being significantly lower than the year before.
But now, halfway into Sancho’s first season at Old Trafford, the Reds will have no regrets about not chasing his signature, with their own transfer record lined up against their fierce rivals perhaps offering a reminder that marquee signings sometimes aren’t all that they are cracked up to be.
The wideman has struggled since joining United, failing to replicate his performances in the Bundesliga, scoring just once in the Premier League and two goals from 23 appearances in all competitions, while failing to register a single assist.
Pick the Liverpool team to face Arsenal:
Sure, such struggles could be put at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s door as United endured a miserable start to the campaign under their former manager.
But fortunes have hardly fared better under interim boss Ralf Rangnick, with Sancho finding himself benched and facing the sharp side of the German’s tongue in recent weeks despite the fact the new man in charge had previously tried to sign the youngster for RB Leipzig.
Benched for the first time by Rangnick against Newcastle United last month, Sancho was introduced at half-time as the Red Devils were held to a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park.
Rangnick pointed to attacking performances in United’s previous game with Norwich City when explaining his decision to drop the big summer signing.
"In certain parts of the game [at Norwich City] we didn’t make the right decisions," he said.
"I didn’t like the body language in some parts of the game and this was also a topic when preparing for today’s game. It will be an away game in front of probably 60, 65 thousand and we need to take the next step.
"We need to be aggressive and prepare for a difficult, an intense game."
And Rangnick was equally unimpressed following Sancho’s introduction from bench, with The Athletic claiming that he gesticulated to his player to get wide, and when he overhit a cross, the 63-year-old screamed: “No, no f***ing hell!"
Recalled for their victory over Burnley, Sancho's performance in defeat to Wolves saw him dropped for United's most recent match as they drew with Aston Villa last weekend.
The fact that Cristiano Ronaldo was absent only added insult to injury.
Taking a 2-0 lead, Sancho was brought on moments after Jacob Ramsey had halved the deficit, and was unable to help United hold on for all three points as fellow substitute Philippe Coutinho equalised soon after.
Teenager Anthony Elanga had been selected to start in place of Sancho against the Villains, as he was handed his first start of the season despite recent reports linking him with a loan move to the Championship.
And Rangnick pointed to fixture congestion when explaining why Sancho had been dropped again.
"We have got so many games to play, I am not thinking about who is ahead of who,” he said. “It was today the decision to play him from the start but as I said, we have got so many games coming up, it could be different in the next game."
United are back in action on Wednesday night when they travel to Brentford, with Rangnick having a big call to make regarding the out-of-form Sancho, who hasn’t contributed to a goal since his new manager took over.
Yet he isn’t the only marquee signing not living up to the expected heights at Old Trafford, with Ronaldo and Raphael Varane perhaps also not delivering as previously anticipated as the Red Devils find themselves seventh in the Premier League table.
They spent roughly £130m last summer when signing the trio, having also spent a potential £101.5m the previous season on Donny van de Beek, Alex Telles, Amad Diallo and Facundo Pellistri.
While not all high-profile, it does show United’s struggles in the transfer window are hardly a new phenomenon regardless of the direction they take.
In contrast, Liverpool parted with £119.25m since the start of last season to bring in Jota, Thiago Alcantara, Kostas Tsimikas, Ben Davies and Ibrahima Konate as well as Ozan Kabak on loan.
As such, Jurgen Klopp is certainly getting more for his money as the Reds maintain their place competing for domestic and European glory.
FSG’s transfer approach might not be the most popular, with fans critical of their lack of spending as they fall behind Manchester City in the title race, but United and Sancho’s fortunes in particular prove that big transfer fees don’t guarantee success.
It’s all about bringing in the right players, with Jota one of Liverpool’s best examples of recent times.
It might not be as exciting or as popular as what unfolds in transfer windows at the likes of Old Trafford.
But with the Reds’ scouting team repeatedly enjoying success in the transfer market despite limited recruitment, they have earned a little trust when it comes to both working with and making the most of what they’ve got to play with.
