It did not take long for Jurgen Klopp's quotes on Paul Pogba's to resurface following news Liverpool had found a breakthrough in their pursuit of Benfica forward, Darwin Nunez.
Nunez is expected to cost the Reds €75 million (£64million), with a further £12.8million potentially linked to appearances and £8.5million based on the future success of the team. This transfer deal is one that has caught the attention of Manchester City and Manchester United fans in particular, with supporters of the latter particularly perplexed by news of Nunez's anticipated arrival.
For it was Klopp who spoke out against United's then world-record £89million fee to re-sign Pogba six years ago, which kick-started a new era of lucrative fees being paid for players.
YOUR SHOUT: Is Liverpool's Darwin Nunez €100m price worth breaking club records?
READ MORE: Darwin Nunez transfer will speak volumes about FSG Liverpool change
"If you bring one player in for £100m and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney," he said. "The day that this is football, I'm not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together. That is how everybody in football understands it. You always want to have the best, but building the group is necessary to be successful."
Liverpool have since gone on to break the £50million barrier on signings such as Alisson, Naby Keita and Virgil van Dijk in recent times, resulting in rival supporters now pointing the finger at Klopp for his past comments on excessive sums of money taking football to uncomfortable territory.
The key detail being forgotten by those labelling the German a hypocrite is such deals would not have been completed had it not been for player sales generating sufficient capital for the Reds to strengthen their squad. Liverpool negotiated an upfront fee of £106m and £36m in potential add-ons in the deal for Philippe Coutinho to join Barcelona in January 2018, which paved the way for key additions to be made to Klopp's team.
In came Van Djik during the same transfer window for £75m, followed by big-name acquisitions of Alisson, Fabinho and Keita in the summer for a combined total of approximately £160m. Although appearing to be a spending spree on the surface, it is often overlooked how Coutinho's departure effectively funded a large part of this activity.
After making these additions to his team, Klopp spoke to German TV to clarify his previous comments on significant transfer fees and why Liverpool had no choice but to change their ways.
“Liverpool is an ambitious club and if we didn't spend the same amount of money as others, we wouldn't be able to compete. Everybody's splashing the cash, so we have to do the same," he explained.
“Back when I was in Germany, Bayern had a bottomless pit of money, like £100m. In today's market, that gets you one centre-back. So this bottomless pit of money is enough to buy one player in today's world and that doesn't even cover their wages.
“The market has changed more than I expected, but I stand by what I said over the Pogba transfer. Maybe things were lost in translation but my point was, if we reach a point where football is solely about money and not football, then I'm leaving; and I still feel the same way about it.”
Unlike at Anfield, both Manchester clubs have not relied upon player exits to power their free-spending approach. Last summer saw United bring Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane to Old Trafford, with the club's only major outgoing being Daniel James' £24m switch to Leeds United. As a result, the Red Devils ended the window with a transfer balance of around -£107m.
Pep Guardiola's side, meanwhile, became the first team in English history to break the £100m mark on a single deal as Jack Grealish arrived at the Etihad Stadium. Angelino, Jack Harrison and Lukas Nmecha yielded a return of £38m as they left the club on a permanent basis
Ibrahima Konate was Liverpool's only addition at Anfield at £36m and, even then, the Reds had largely covered this outlay by Harry Wilson, Marko Grujic, Taiwo Awoniyi and Xherdan Shaqiri all moving on. The same principle is also expected to apply with Nunez, with the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Nat Phillips, Neco Williams, Sadio Mane and Takumi Minamino capable of generating a combined income that may offset the club's imminent expenditure.
Since the start of the 2017/18 season, no Premier League sides have a higher net spend than United (£479.04m) and City (£424.81m). Liverpool are ranked way down in ninth place (£199m), with Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Everton and Newcastle all ahead of the Reds.
The emerging narrative that Liverpool are somehow on a par with their closest rivals when it comes to financial firepower is simply not true. There has been no element of risk attached to the club's business in recent years - a considered approach has remained a theme under Michael Edwards' tenure and new sporting director, Julian Ward.
