When it comes to identifying new signings, there are few better environments for a mass audition than the World Cup.
In Qatar right now, planet earth's best players from 32 different countries have assembled in one place, many of which you will have heard of but plenty of others will be new names to most.
Liverpool have already been linked with a number of individuals currently working their way through the group stages in the Middle East. England's Jude Bellingham has long been touted for a switch to Anfield and talk has also ramped up around compatriot Declan Rice.
Elsewhere Cody Gakpo has impressed for the Netherlands, Enzo Fernandez has demonstrated his talent with a brilliant goal for Argentina and Ajax youngster Mohammed Kudus has shown great maturity for Ghana. Any of those players could potentially end up at Anfield and further performances of note in Qatar will only strengthen their cases.
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But what of those who have previously made the switch to Liverpool after shining at the showpiece FIFA tournament? A clutch of ex-Reds made the move to Merseyside following eye-catching World Cup performances, but not all of them worked out for the best, including one that was agreed before the tournament even got underway.
Phil Babb (USA 1994)
Centre-back Phil Babb was a Coventry City player when he shot to prominence at the USA World Cup in 1994. Thanks to his Irish mother, Babb represented Jack Charlton's Republic of Ireland side, who progressed through the group stages before being knocked out of the round of 16, 2-0 by the Netherlands.
Babb's pace and tackling marked him out as a top performer for Ireland and it wasn't long until Liverpool came knocking. With Roy Evans keen to shore up a leaky defence, Babb was signed to partner fellow new arrival John Scales in a fresh-look central defensive partnership. The fee of £3.6million paid to Coventry City was a then-British record transfer fee for a defender.
As it turned out, the form of Neil Ruddock meant that Evans would end up playing a 5-3-2 formation with all three central defenders, deploying Babb on the left of the trio. He held his place in the side for the best part of three seasons before trailing off, with poor distribution and occasional lapses of concentration undermining his defensive qualities. Despite spending six seasons at Anfield, he only scored one goal, against his former club Coventry, but is somewhat unfortunately best remembered for wrapping his reproduction hardware around a goalpost when sliding to try and prevent a Gigi Casiraghi goal for Chelsea at Anfield in 1998.
El Hadji Diouf (Japan & South Korea 2002)
The 2002 World Cup got off to an explosive start when African hopefuls Senegal stunned the football world by beating world champions France 1-0 in the opening match, with a performance that was even more comfortable than the narrow scoreline suggests.
Almost immediately after the shock result, reports emerged claiming that Liverpool had signed Senegal's Man of the Match midfielder El Hadji Diouf from French club Lens. The Ligue 1 side initially denied the claims, but soon had to concede that a deal had indeed been done to send their African star to Merseyside for £10million.
Reds boss Gerard Houllier was particularly pleased with his early acquisition and Diouf's performances at the World Cup created a buzz around his pending arrival in the Premier League. So few could have anticipated that he would turn out to be one of Liverpool's worst-ever singings.
Having snubbed the chance to sign Nicolas Anelka in favour of Diouf, Houllier's new signing got off to a good start with a brace against Southampton on his Anfield debut, but supporters did not see him score again until the following March. Diouf landed in hot water when he was suspended for two matches after spitting at a Celtic fan during a UEFA cup match at Parkhead, causing uproar in the crowd.
Failing to score again that season, he didn't score once during the following season, but did manage to pick up 13 yellow cards and a red. Diouf's rumoured poor attitude and fractious relationship with teammates had by now marked him out as a trouble-maker. He was eventually sent out on load to Bolton Wanderers in 2004, before signing for them permanently.
Diouf has since been highly out-spoken about former Liverpool mainstays Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, but the feeling was mutual. Carragher said: "He has one of the worst strike rates of any forward in Liverpool history. He's the only no. 9 ever to go through a whole season without scoring, in fact he's probably the only no. 9 of any club to do that. He was always the last one to get picked in training."
Salif Diao (Japan & South Korea 2002)
Not content with singing one Senegalese World Cup star, Houllier brought in two. Central midfielder Diao was actually brought in by the Frenchman before the World Cup, but his steady performances in the centre of the park helped Senegal reach the quarterfinals, once again building optimism about his arrival.
Although Diao was nowhere near as controversial a figure as his compatriot Diouf, his contribution to Liverpool is even less memorable. Houllier would often play him out of position at centre-back or full-back and it was only when Rafa Benitez became manager in 2004 that he was played regularly in his natural position. Unfortunately for Diao, a string of poor performances including a nightmare first half against Fulham saw him lose his place to Xabi Alonso, and the Reds never really looked back from there.
After loan spells with Birmingham City, Portsmouth and Stoke City, he eventually joined the Potters on a permanent deal in 2007. Diao still makes occasional appearances for the Liverpool 'legends' team.
Maxi Rodriguez (Germany 2006)
Argentina star Maxi Rodriguez did not sign for Rafa Benitez' Liverpool until 2010, but it was his antics at the 2006 World Cup that brought him into focus. The Newell's Old Boys midfielder put Argentina into the quarterfinals after scoring an extra time winner against Mexico that is regarded as one of the greatest goals in the history of the World Cup. Collecting the ball outside the box on his chest, he unleashed a stunning volley that would live long in the memory.
Rodriguez impressed again at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa before joining Liverpool in the following January on a free transfer from Atletico Madrid. He would become a dependable lieutenant for Benitez, weighing in with his fair share of goals, supporting talisman Fernando Torres. He would endear himself to the Kop with two hat-tricks in 16 days after hitting trebles against Birmingham City and Fulham.
Rodriguez scored 17 goals in 73 appearances for Liverpool, before returning to home club Newall's Old Boys in 2012, but not before writing an open letter to supporters thanking them for his time on Merseyside. He left with a League Cup winners medal.
Luis Suarez (South Africa 2010)
To say Uruguayan legend Suarez had an eventful 2010 World Cup would be putting it mildly. After scoring and putting in a Man of the Match performance in a 1-0 group stage win against Mexico, he scored twice to see off South Korea in the round of 16 match. But in the closing stages of a 1-1 draw with Ghana in the quarterfinals, Suarez was sent off deep into extra time when he suddenly decided he was in goal for the Uruguayans, denying them what would have certainly been a late winning goal by pushing the ball off the goal line with his hands. His unsportsmanlike actions would pay off however, as Ghana missed the subsequent penalty before Uruguay went on to win the match in a penalty shoot-out.
Such drama came hand-in-hand with Suarez and while he was suspended from Dutch football for biting an opponent's shoulder, Ajax accepted a £22.8million offer for him from Liverpool in January 2011.
His impact at Anfield was immediate and sensational, but also dogged by controversy. In four seasons at Liverpool Suarez scored 82 goals in just 133 appearances. His phenomenal performances saw him score 31 Premier League goals in the 2013-2014 season, as the Reds came as close as they ever had to done to ending their long wait for another top flight title.
But his footballing genius came at a high price. Suarez was suspended for eight matches by the FA for being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra at Old Trafford. He then received a 10-match ban after biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on the shoulder in 2013. A month later, he tried to force through a move to Arsenal in an attempt to reduce the spotlight on him at Liverpool, but was refused the move.
His Liverpool career ended in the same way it started, with a suspension and controversy at a World Cup. Suarez' habit of biting opponents reared its ugly head again when he took a chunk out of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini. FIFA banned him for nine matches and that was enough to see a £64.98million move to Barcelona passed through.
Despite his many issues Suarez still won PFA and Football Writers' Player of the Year in 2013-14. He is widely regarded as one of the most talented players ever to have represented Liverpool Football Club.
Divock Origi (Brazil 2014)
Origi shot to stardom when, aged just 19, he scored an 88th minute winner for Belgium against Russia to not only become the youngest ever World Cup scorer for the Red Devils but also send them into the knockout stages.
On July 29, 2014 Liverpool announced that they had signed Origi but then immediately loaned him back for a season to French club Lille, whom they had paid £10million for his services. In seven seasons at Anfield, he made 175 appearances and scored 41 goals, but his place in Liverpool folklore is well and truly secured.
Having a canny knack for scoring in big matches when it really matters, the Belgian striker may never have been a regular starter for the Reds but left a cult hero. His finest moments arrived in the 2018-19 season when he scored twice at Anfield to help Liverpool overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit against Barcelona, winning 4-0 and sending the Reds to the Champions League final in Madrid. Here he went one better, scoring a crucial second goal as Jurgen Klopp's side won Liverpool's sixth European Cup against Tottenham Hotspur.
A bizarre injury time goal against Everton grew his stock even higher after he capitalised on a mistake by Jordan Pickford to clinch a 1-0 win at the death, sparking wild scenes. Origi eventually ended his stay on Merseyside this summer when he joined AC Milan, but left with a winners medal from almost every trophy on offer including that of Premier League champions.
Xherdan Shaqiri (Russia 2018)
The 'Alpine Messi' had already represented European football powerhouses Bayern Munich and Inter Milan by the time he rocked up at the 2018 World Cup as a Stoke City player.
A master of free-kicks and equally adept with both feet, Shaqiri scored the winning goal for Switzerland in a 2-1 win against Serbia in the group stages and immediately landed himself in hot water, celebrating by making an eagle sign with his hands that represented the symbol of ethnic Albanians. He was slapped with a 10,000 Swiss francs fine by FIFA for "for unsporting behaviour contrary to the principles of fair-play".
With Stoke relegated at the end the 2018 Premier League season, that didn't stop Liverpool snapping him up for £13.5million on July 13, after they activated his release clause. Although he struggled to hold down a regular first team start in a hugely successful and competitive Jurgen Klopp team, he was considered a fans favourite and that tag was rubber-stamped when he came off the bench against Manchester United at Anfield to score twice in a 3-1 win.
He also stepped up in the famous Champions League 4-0 semi-final triumph against Barcelona, providing the cross for Gini Wijnaldum's equaliser on one of Anfield's greatest European nights. He eventually left for Lyon in August 2021, but not without Premier League, Champions League, Super Cup and World Club Champions winners medals. Not bad for a player who only made 63 appearances in a red shirt.
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