Even for Liverpool, the sudden execution of their pursuit of Dominik Szoboszlai was impressive.
The Reds only opened talks with the player's Hungarian-based agency at the top of the week after turning their attention to the RB Leipzig midfielder in their efforts to strengthen their midfield.
Initially, the noises coming out of Anfield were not particularly encouraging after details of the meeting were disclosed on Wednesday afternoon and there was also some conjecture over the existence of a release clause that stood at £60m.
Some reports claimed the terms were set to expire in mid-July, while others revealed the more accurate timeline of June 30, which coincided with the end of the financial year. Having held a productive meeting with EM Sports and the player's agent, Matyas Esterhazy, Liverpool found that they only had a few days left to try and trigger the terms in Szoboszlai's terms before Leipzig were able to name their own price.
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In a summer where they have already lost Christoper Nkunku to Chelsea and could also be forced to offload Josko Gvardiol amid reported interest from Manchester City, the Bundesliga club were unlikely to be too accommodating over Szoboszlai, even for a club like Liverpool with whom they share a strong and respectful relationship that dates back now over six years.
The breakthrough, the ECHO has learned, came when the two clubs were discussing a deal for Fabio Carvalho, who completed his move on Friday after undergoing a medical on Thursday. Having had a permanent offer rejected by the Reds earlier in the month, the Germans remained the most proactive and persistent in their efforts to snare Carvalho to a season-long loan deal.
Despite interest from a string of Premier League clubs, Leipzig was deemed to be the best 'project' for Carvalho to kick-start a career that has stalled since the turn of the year. The 20-year-old will be able to get some much-needed rhythm and momentum away from the often punishing glare of England's top flight at a club who are dedicated to the development of young players with the potential to become stars of the European game.
Having already fostered good relations through their amicable dealings for the likes of Naby Keita and Ibrahima Konate, Liverpool stepped up their interest in Szoboszlai on Friday as the terms of the attacking midfielder's release clause ticked into its final hours.
And within two days the Hungarian has now been officially paraded as a Liverpool player. It's a move that shares more than a few similarities of their deal with PSV Eindhoven for Cody Gakpo that was thrashed out over three days of intense talks between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, or the move for Darwin Nunez that was all signed off after sporting director Julian Ward had flown directly to Lisbon for a meeting with Benfica.
The sudden pursuit of Luis Diaz in January 2022 following the emergence of Tottenham interest was also complete in less than a week and Liverpool can now add Szoboszlai to their list of transfers that were proactively and aggressively wrapped up before they had even half a chance to become referred to as 'sagas'.
Despite that swift nature of the negotiations, though, initial conversations around the talks were not hugely heartening. Perhaps the initial skepticism around the deal came from a perceived desire to drop the price below the £60m that was needed to free the 22-year-old from his terms of his Leipzig contract. There was a feeling that those who control the financial pursestrings would be too hesitant to green light the deal for Szoboszlai.
By Friday evening, however, Liverpool had informed Leipzig they would meet the terms of the clause, which granted him permission to undergo a medical at a north west facility after he had been flown into Liverpool's John Lennon Airport on Saturday afternoon.
It's a figure that will make the former Red Bull Salzburg youngster the fourth most expensive signing of all time at Liverpool behind Virgil van Dijk (£75m), Alisson Becker (£65m) and Darwin Nunez (£64m initial).
And as Liverpool gear up for a season without Champions League football, it is a significant show of ambition to ensure that their absence from the lucrative, modern version of the European Cup is not off the agenda for too long at Anfield.
It takes Liverpool's spending this summer up to £95m following the early-June capture of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton & Hove Albion and adds another sizable brick to an engine room rebuild that has become the primary issue for the club's recruitment team.
An aspect that impressed those at Liverpool was the relative maturity for a player who won't turn 23 until October. The fact he is captain of his national team spoke to his natural leadership qualities and Klopp gained glowing recommendations from their background checks with contacts back in Germany, it is understood.
Liverpool have tracked the progress of the 22-year-old for a number of years and have watched on closely as he took the well-travelled development path from Red Bull Salzburg to RB Leipzig and now to the cusp of the Premier League.
According to the player himself, Klopp was complimentary of his performance at full-time of a 4-3 win for the Reds over Salzburg in a Champions League group game back in early October of 2019. "When someone like Klopp comes up to you after the final whistle and tells you 'great work' that means you're probably on the right path," he said.
The deal also represents a significant feather in the cap of Jorg Schmadtke whose work as sporting director ensured the club were in a position to wrap up the deal for Szoboszlai in double quick time this week.
Some had expressed their concern over the fact Schmadtke had to be coaxed out of retirement to join the club and the fact that he has only signed a short-term contract to oversee a critical summer of transfer business.
It's also fair to point out the 59-year-old has never previously operated at this sort of level having built his reputation as a tough negotiator with Aachen, Koln, Hannover and Wolfsburg prior to appointment with the Reds.
But as Liverpool reflect on their capture of one of the finest young talents in the Bundesliga, much of the back-patting can be directed Schmadtke's way, if only for now. The German was said to have been particularly robust with his compatriots as he worked on the biggest deal of his career. What happens next will be fascinating.
Do Liverpool believe their midfield ranks have now been sufficiently restocked? Or is there a feeling that a third new arrival is needed to adequately cover a department that struggled for form and fitness last season before losing James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita?
Khephren Thuram of Nice continues to be linked alongside Bayern Munich's Ryan Gravenberch, Celta Vigo's Gabri Veiga and Southampton teenager Romeo Lavia. Manu Kone, of Borussia Monchengladbach has also been assessed, but the defensive midfielder recently suffered a knee injury on France Under-21 duty and faces further assessment on its severity.
Those five players have been looked at around the same time Liverpool took the decision to step away from a pursuit of Chelsea's Mason Mount. The £60m fee Manchester United are set to pay for the England international was deemed too much for a player entering the final 12 months of his terms at Stamford Bridge, particularly given the Londoners' need to offload players before the end of June due to their spendthrift outlay under the relatively short ownership of Todd Boelhy and Clearlake Capital.
Liverpool believe the more straight forward deal of triggering a release clause for Szobozslai coupled with his age, level of experience and potential to improve made him a more viable option than a protracted move for Mount who is two years older than the Reds' new arrival and at a Premier League rival who are keen to drive a hard bargain given United are also at the table.
For now, only those within the recruitment team at Liverpool will know the real answer to what is the next part of the long-term rebuilding plans, but their work this week should at least afford them some reserves of patience and trust.
