The agent of Dominik Szoboszlai believes Liverpool's decision to give his client the No.8 shirt is proof of the club's belief in their new £60m signing.
And Matyas Esterhazy, who has represented Szobozslai throughout his professional career, has detailed how quickly the Reds moved during a whirlwind few days that brought the Hungary captain to Anfield last week.
Liverpool spoke to Esterhazy and his EM Sports agency at the start of last week and held productive discussions before opening formal dialogue with RB Leipzig on Friday.
A June 30 expiry date existed in a £60m release clause in Szoboszlai's contract, which was activated in time before the weekend. The attacking midfielder then flew into Merseyside on Saturday afternoon before he was officially confirmed as a Reds player on Sunday.
Esterhazy and Szoboszlai's father, Zsolt, were both with the midfielder when he made the journey to Merseyside and the representative explained how the move to give the 22-year-old the No.8 shirt, made famous by the iconic Steven Gerrard, resonated with the player's camp.
"Dominik has become an adult, [a] responsible man who is well aware of his obligations and what surrounds him," Esterhazy told Nemzeti Sport in Hungary. "I think there are many normal parents who wish their son to achieve similar success, and when Dominik is photographed wearing a Liverpool shirt, he doesn't see the salary, but the road from Szekesfehervar (hometown) to this point.
"It's a long, difficult road, but Dominik is an example that you can go through it, you can get this far, it's available to everyone, but you have to see the work done and follow it, and I hope more and more people respect the footballer because of all this training and practice.
"[The No.8 is] rather a huge appreciation. Dominik's father, Zsolt Szoboszlai, and I are still at Liverpool's training centre and it is incredible to feel the great respect with which Dominik has been received and treated.
"Liverpool previously paid more for the acquisition of Virgil van Dijk and Darwin Nunez, third place on this list is a big deal, expressing the club's intentions. The No.8 jersey is a sign of respect, trust. We have felt a lot of this in recent days.
"We were in contact with many clubs, with whom communication was closer, more frequent, others more relaxed. My conversations with Liverpool have gotten serious over the last few days, they have outlined what they have in mind, and by late Friday afternoon things had become very acute.
"There were no particular problems, we actually agreed quickly. We talked a lot about opportunities before, Liverpool were always very important to us and when it became clear that they wanted to get Dominik, the question was whether they would accept Leipzig's terms. It has been accepted, and that is a huge thing."
Esterhazy added: "It's hard to articulate [how I feel], I'm serious. First of all, I'm very proud of the work Dominik has done to get to this point, and obviously it's a huge opportunity for him to show himself in the strongest league in the world, at one of the most well-known clubs in the world, under one of the best coaches in the world, if he can prove his talent at this level.
"I can't really express the chance for him, but obviously we trust Dominik to be an outstanding player at this level to benefit his team. Before our final decision, Jurgen Klopp spoke to Dominik and that conversation increased his commitment and motivation to the club."
