Luis Diaz may have only played 37 minutes of competitive football for Liverpool but his value has already soared above what the Reds paid.
The 25-year-old Colombian attacker was unveiled as a Liverpool player last week after the Reds made a play late in the January transfer window to steal a march on their Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur to land Diaz in a deal worth a potential £49m.
Diaz had been a summer target for Liverpool, but owners Fenway Sports Group sanctioned the deal after his former club Porto had alerted the Reds to Spurs' move for the talented winger.
Liverpool, knowing that Porto needed the funds immediately in order to meet some rather pressing financial deadlines, were willing to stump up €8m (£6.8m) as soon as Diaz had completed his medical, with the initial fee in the region of £36.5m, potentially rising to £49m should the add-ons be met.
It was considerably lower than the €80m (£68m) release clause that Porto had in place and had initially been adamant would have to be met.
But with Porto believing that the chances of achieving the lucrative add-ons would be far better with Liverpool than Spurs, with such things as goals scored and Champions League participation involved, it was the Reds that won the day.
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Diaz made his bow for the Reds in the 3-1 home FA Cup fourth round success against Cardiff City at the weekend, emerging from the bench on 57 minutes and making an impressive contribution.
He has already been named in Liverpool's Champions League squad and he looks set to be a key figure for what will be a crucial time for Jurgen Klopp's men as they continue to chase glory on all fronts.
Diaz's Liverpool career has just begun, and of the things furthest from Klopp's mind right now will be moving him on.
But the move for Diaz shows just how strong Liverpool's own position is in the market, something which has been demonstrated over the past 18 months with the addition of Diogo Jota from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Jota was signed for a fee in the region of £40m. That was seen as a good deal from both sides, with Jota at the apex of his value at Molineux, something that has a ceiling through global market size of the club, on-field success and exposure in such things as the Champions League.
Analysts at the CIES Football Observatory in Switzerland use a variety of econometric methods to take a scientific approach to determine the value of players in the transfer market.
Since that Jota move in 2020 in September 2020, the value of the Portuguese has risen from what was seen as a high value at £40m to £68m in today's market.
A rise of £28m has been born from his excellent form with the Reds and the ceiling on price disappearing due to him playing Champions League football and increasing his global exposure, including his commercial value.
For Diaz, even though he has officially been a Liverpool player for less than a week, he is already, according to CIES data, worth as much as £23m (£22.7m) more than the initial fee that Liverpool paid for him.
The CIES value looks at the market value of the player and doesn't take into account potential add-ons for reaching certain milestones. CIES put Diaz's value at a high mark of €70m (£59.2m).
Diaz, who signed a five-year deal with the Reds, won't be going anywhere soon, but the increase in value shows how signing talent that has been undervalued can deliver.
It is an approach that Liverpool have been famed for in recent years and something that has been a cornerstone of their success in attracting the right kind of player to Anfield.
It also demonstrates the power of the Reds as a global force, where a player can see his value soar after less than seven days of being in the building. Whether that value continues to rise all depends on what Diaz can do on the pitch now.
