For two clubs who have redefined what greatness looks like in a Premier League season without the use of traditional strikers, Liverpool and Manchester City's headline transfer business is intriguing.
The summer signings of Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland indicate a change in approach from both Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola this coming campaign as the two best teams in the country prepare to add another chapter to a rivalry that is defined largely by its high-strung excellence.
Since August 2018, the two teams are separated by just one single point. Liverpool's haul of 357 is bettered by City's 358, but in terms of Premier League titles, Guardiola's men have been able to lift three of the last four.
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Like May 2019, City were crowned champions ahead of the Reds by just one point as another thrilling race went down to the final seconds just a few weeks ago. Despite going unbeaten in 2022, Klopp's side left themselves with just a little too much to do in the second half of the campaign to haul back a City side whose lead once stood at 14 points in January.
City eventually dragged themselves over the line after it looked like a dramatic collapse was about to be completed as Aston Villa held a 2-0 lead at the Etihad heading into the final 15 minutes or so.
For Klopp, that is all in the past and while there is an acceptance - once that is often made public - that a lot more titles would have flown towards Anfield had Guardiola's City not been around in this era, there is no real lamenting their existence. If anything, he relishes the challenge.
But for two clubs who are so clearly only separated by the most wafer thin of margins, it will be interesting to see how their respective tweaks and changes this summer impact that famous battle for supremacy at the top of English football.
Continuity has been the key to consistency in recent years, but some of that could be about to change somewhat.
From Liverpool 's perspective, they need new signing Nunez to hit the ground at speed if the loss of Sadio Mane is not to be felt too keenly. The Senegal star was arguably the Reds' best player from the New Year onwards as he settled superbly into a new role at the top of the front three.
While there will be no real external pressure on either Calvin Ramsay or Fabio Carvalho to instantly produce at Anfield, Nunez will be tasked with delivering the goods up top as a new-look attack begins to be moulded on the training pitches across the summer.
The former Benfica striker registered 34 goals last term and is a player Klopp is said to have 'fallen in love' with when his talents were being analysed earlier this year. It's also been explained how there will likely be some evolution in Liverpool's approach to get the best out of the 6ft 2in frontman.
If Nunez represents the great unknown as things stand, however, every other facet of the Liverpool squad is settled. Everyone knows what to expect from seasoned campaigners like Thiago Alcantara, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson Becker by now, while Trent Alexander-Arnold will once again be chief creator in the side that pushed itself to the cusp of quadruple immortality just a few weeks ago.
What is perhaps less certain is how City adjust to their respective incomings and outgoings. Haaland, of course, is widely thought of as one of the finest centre forwards on the continent and the Norway international will be eagerly looking forward to English football's elite level.
Like Nunez, though, Haaland is untested in the Premier League, so it will be interesting to see how quickly he adapts to the pace and power of the game on these shores.
Perhaps more intriguingly from Liverpool's perspective is how their great rivals cope with the spate of high-profile exits. Raheem Sterling continues to be linked with a switch to Chelsea, while Gabriel Jesus' move to Arsenal was officially completed on Monday.
Meanwhile Bernardo Silva is another who is being linked to Barcelona, while Fernandinho departed the club as a free agent after a decorated spell in Manchester before he was replaced by Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips. Nathan Ake is another who faces an uncertain future.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is being linked with a move away from the Etihad as speculation over Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella goes on. City, it seems, are not finished yet in the window, even if the spotlight is more likely to be fixated on their outgoings.
It's an interesting turnover of players and in an era that has been proven to hinge on such small details, perhaps Liverpool's approach of less-is-more for their first-team fine-tuning could yet make all the difference this season.
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