After coming within 15 minutes of the Premier League title last season, Liverpool will know the task is going to be even tougher in the upcoming campaign.
Manchester City have responded to cutting it fine last term by spending big to add Erling Haaland and Kalvin Phillips to their ranks, but they're not the only contenders. Tottenham have added to their squad in a big way with the likes of Richarlison and Yves Bissouma arriving, while Chelsea - despite Thomas Tuchel's concerns about their readiness for the upcoming campaign - have more than £80m worth of fresh talent in the form of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly.
They're not the only ones, either, with Arsenal and Manchester United both spending big after missing out on the top four a year ago. However, according to assistant manager Pep Lijnders, Liverpool's own approach will go far beyond big-money signings like Darwin Nunez.
While Nunez's move from Benfica could eventually set Liverpool back a club record fee, and Luis Diaz arrived for big money in January, the Reds are also looking at the next generation of stars. 19-year-old Fabio Carvalho joined from Fulham over the summer, and he's one of a number of teenage stars to be added to the ranks.
Harvey Elliott has already shown is ability to hold his own among Liverpool's stars, while Kaide Gordon looks set to play a bigger part after earning minutes under Jurgen Klopp last season. And, in his new book Intensity: Inside Liverpool FC - Our Identity, published by Reach Sport, Lijnders has shed more light on what might come next.
"We are so happy we have the best players with us," Lijnders wrote. "This is the most important thing: sign the best ones, keep the best ones and develop talents into the best ones."
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While Liverpool have lost Sadio Mane this summer, the Senegal star moves to Bayern Munich having given the Reds six years of service. Fellow forward Mohamed Salah has extended his deal, while the other departures have seen fringe players leave Anfield.
"Some might say there are better players out there, but there aren’t better players for Liverpool Football Club and our team than the ones we have," Lijnders continued.
"We have a team. We have character. We are strong together. We have the ones who feel our club, who live off and on the pitch for our mission; who have this ‘us against the world’ mentality which took us to the top because there is always a way for the ones who want it. Evolution."
Over the years, Liverpool have made good use of their academy, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones among the graduates to step up to the first team. Those picked up from other clubs as teenagers have also played their part, though - from Elliott and former Derby County starlet Gordon to one-time Bolton Wanderers youngster Nat Phillips - and there will be hopes that Trent Kone-Doherty can become one of the next to follow that path after joining the under-18 squad from Derry City.
A lot of care tends to go into the Reds' recruitment, with sporting director Julian Ward carrying on the work of predecessor Michael Edwards. And Lijnders has explained the conversations which have led the strategy for this summer and beyond.
"We have a ‘brand’ now: the type of training, the type of coaching, the type of leadership," the Dutchman explained. "We represent our club’s history but this team is making its own.
"'Academy and game-changers, that’s where we need to invest,' I said, while sitting in Jürgen’s office [in the week of their 6-0 win over Leeds in February]. Not second-line players who take the space for our talents. [Luis] Diaz and Kaide [Gordon], or Thiago and Harvey [Elliott].”
"Room for talent, space for our Academy to give a chance to these young boys to evolve into game-changers. We have to buy premium and use the Academy.
"Liverpool deserves a process like this. A good system always gives freedom and the chance for interpretation."
Lijnders has also spoken of the influence of his compatriot Johan Cruyff, who is often cited for his role in the Dutch 'Total Football' era as a player and the emergence of Barcelona in the 90s and beyond through his work as a coach. Indeed, there was an element of this in Lijnders' mind when he was still working at Porto. before he joined the Reds in 2014.
"This is what our boys want: dominant football, freedom," he added. "This is what we as Liverpool dream of: play like Cruyff’s dream team and defend like a red machine chasing like devils.
"That’s why we want so many attacking personalities on the pitch. We shout many times in training, “Everyone has to touch the ball before scoring!”
"That’s why it’s extra-cool that this happened with our third goal against Norwich, I couldn’t have been prouder. A little bit of Cruyff was there, ‘Total Football’. I celebrated that goal for many reasons more intensely than others.
"We always said at Porto, ‘There is no need for food after quality football like that’. Bring together a German who admires [Arrigo] Sacchi and a Dutchman who admires Cruyff and you create a monster! Jürgen has said this so often.”
Pep Lijnders Intensity: Inside Liverpool FC - Our Identity, published by Reach Sport, is on sale August 4 from Amazon
