The formal announcement that dropped onto Liverpool's official website on Wednesday evening was the first forward pull on the curtains of a glorious era under Jurgen Klopp.
The confirmation that vice captain James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita would be joining Roberto Firmino in leaving the club this summer was not unexpected, but that made it no less bittersweet for supporters who have come to broadly recognise all four as important cogs in a glittering and trophy-laden period.
Between the quartet, they turned out 965 times for Liverpool between the years of 2015 and 2023 and that figure would surely have clocked over the 1000-mark had it not been for the well-documented injury issues that blighted Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita, in particular.
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All four players, at various points, made major contributions to a club who between the years of 2019 and 2022 won every top-level trophy available and the parting message published by Liverpoolfc.com was the first taste of the reverence that will await them in the coming weeks as they wind down their respective careers on Merseyside.
"The quartet will each embark on new chapters in their careers following the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, having helped the Reds lift a host of the game’s biggest honours during their spells at Anfield," read the statement.
"With the visit of Aston Villa on Saturday being the Reds’ final home fixture of the campaign, special acknowledgements will be paid to the quartet at Anfield, with further tributes to follow across the club’s digital platforms after the end of the season as we wish Roberto, Naby, James, Alex and their families the very best for the future.
"All four players will depart with our gratitude and appreciation for the contribution they have made."
And while the full-time whistle of Saturday's visit from Aston Villa - the final home game of the campaign - will see the floodgates open for the well-wishes and the marks of respect for all four, the official confirmation of their departures more than hints at the beginning of a new chapter under Klopp from June onwards.
While injuries and the passing of time have combined to decrease the output of each player in recent months, the exits of four high-profile members of the Liverpool squad helps free up both space and funds to commence what is expected to be a major summer of rebuilding.
Sources inside the club are unsure on what represents an ideal number of arrivals for Klopp and his staff this summer but there is a general agreement that the manager wants to conclude his business as early as possible as his pre-season plans start to take real shape.
Having spun the plates with regards to transfer targets for months, due to being unable to know for certain if Champions League football - and all its accompanying riches - is on the agenda for the coming campaign, it seems the Reds' recruitment department have at least whittled down their primary targets.
Brighton's World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister remains one of the major targets while Mason Mount's situation at Chelsea is being monitored closely as the Londoners get set to appoint Mauricio Pochettino. Bayern Munich's Ryan Gravenberch is another being assessed as midfield remains the priority.
With Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all giving the forward department plenty of strength in depth, it is felt that Firmino's exit can be absorbed by those already at the club and the 31-year-old's eventual departure has been planned for for quite some time given sporting director Julian Ward was tasked with restructuring the frontline gradually over the last 18 months.
Whereas the forward department has seen an evolution in that time, however, the plan for the midfield ranks is more of a revolution in the next few months.
With Keita, Milner and Oxlade-Chamberlain set to deplete the engine room ranks further, most of the focus this summer is on increasing the quality and number of options in the centre of the park and an aggressive pursuit of game-changing additions is seemingly the order of the day.
The emergence of Stefan Bajcetic, development of Harvey Elliott and recent resurgence of Curtis Jones are all agreeable elements to work with for Klopp this coming summer but the need for further quality remains at Anfield.
One benefit that will be felt by the exits of Firmino, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita will be the total being saved on the wage bill. It's difficult to gather accurate information on Premier League salaries, for obvious reasons, but a rough estimate has Liverpool saving over £500,000 a week, which can theoretically be used for those entering the club in the coming weeks and months.
Thursday's confirmation felt like the beginning of the end to an Anfield era but what comes after it should be cause for much excitement as the next phase of Klopp's tenure begins.
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