Some 134 days after his last outing in a Liverpool shirt, it was heartening to see Naby Keita belatedly put a firm foot forward on his road to recovery on Sunday evening in Dubai.
As the darkness had just about started to settle in around the Al Maktoum Stadium, Keita arrived for the final half hour of a 3-1 defeat to Lyon in the exhibition tournament known as the Dubai Super Cup.
It's been quite the wait for the No.8 to get back on the pitch again having last turned out for Jurgen Klopp's side as a late substitute in the Community Shield on July 30 against Manchester City.
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In a Liverpool season that has been largely dominated by injury issues, Keita sits front of centre of that particular tale of woe. His last real contribution was a 13-minute cameo in the Champions League final in late May, meaning it will be at least seven months between competitive outings for the Guinea international midfielder.
There are caveats for that particular statistic, of course - not least the mid and pre-season breaks for the Reds - but firm accusations over a lack of durability are certainly valid where the £52m midfielder is concerned.
Keita's misfortune was to arrive into the game on Sunday alongside a slew of less experienced team-mates. By the time the former RB Leipzig man came on, the game had started to lose its shape and Lyon's more senior team began to exert their superiority.
Still, there were flashes of what makes Keita such a compelling footballer when on song. There was a quick slalom away from a couple of challenges in midfield, while a nice one-two with teenager winger Ben Doak almost brought out a chance.
A lovely cushioned touch back into the path of Dominic Corness allowed the youngster to continue with a decent surge up-field too. There were fleeting moments of quality, even if Keita was understandably rusty on his first run-out since the summer months.
"With Naby, it was his first 30 minutes for a while, which was important," Klopp said in the post-match press conference. "He's an important player. So, yes, the info was that we should only use him for 30 minutes. So against AC Milan next Friday, [he is] probably able to play a bit longer."
It's hard to believe that Keita is still just 27 given how long he's been at Liverpool and the fact the club spent the previous 12 months or so before his eventual arrival trying to bring him to Anfield from the Bundesliga, but there is a feeling that judgement day is approaching for him and his time on Merseyside.
He's about to enter the final six months of a five-year Liverpool contract that was signed in the summer of 2018. It's an instructive detail of how his fortunes have gone that virtually everyone at the club during that time has signed at least one contract extension while he has remained tethered to the same terms he penned back then.
He's not been a poor signing by any stretch of the imagination and Keita will rightly point to his medal collection since moving to Liverpool around four-and-a-half years ago as a riposte for anyone suggesting so, but the feeling that he has not fulfilled his obvious potential in the Premier League continues to nag and gnaw.
What happens next might well be anyone's guess. Liverpool officials point to Mohamed Salah's situation with regards to why no news over a new deal doesn't necessarily mean bad news and sporting director Julian Ward did meet the player's agent, Bjorn Bezemer, over the summer in Spain to talk over possible fresh terms.
Claims of Keita's unhappiness over the summer were roundly dismissed by senior sources at the time and the excellent relationship they have with Bezemer, who also represents Sadio Mane, could yet be key if there is a deal to be done.
Injuries, however, have never veered too far from the story of Keita's time at Anfield, with the midfielder averaging just 15 league appearances a season for the Reds. None of those have come this term as we prepare to enter the festive period.
What might aid any hopes of staying is the fact that Liverpool already need to perform extensive work on their midfield department next year, so the need to replace someone of Keita's craft and guile will be another headache the recruitment team will surely want to avoid, particularly if funds are at a premium.
If Keita does have long-term designs on staying put, though, he simply has to put together a strong run in the second half of the campaign. It has at least started with Sunday's return, but the hard work is only just beginning for someone who is still the fourth most expensive player of all time at Liverpool. It really is a defining period.
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