It's been another international break where Liverpool have continued to gently flutter their eyelashes in the direction of Jude Bellingham.
From Trent Alexander-Arnold attending a Chris Brown concert with his England team-mate, Jordan Henderson posting recovery sessions with him and Steven Gerrard delivering high praise to his face in front of the Channel 4 cameras, Bellingham is certainly feeling the Liverpool love from all angles just now.
It was reported last week that it is being seen as 'increasingly unlikely' that Bellingham will join the Reds this summer, owing to the spending power of transfer rivals Real Madrid and Manchester City and their ability to offer the 19-year-old an exorbitant, eye-watering weekly wage.
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Such a prospect is not necessarily a new obstacle for Liverpool though and the strong interest from elsewhere is not viewed as prohibitive inside the club, even if it will be accepted that it will take a record outlay to land him. The Borussia Dortmund man remains the Reds' No.1 target.
What is less clear, however, is who else Liverpool are working towards. At a time when a major revamp of the midfield is needed, Jurgen Klopp, inevitably, continues to be linked to a host of names.
Matheus Nunes of Wolverhampton Wanderers is certainly someone who has his admirers within the corridors of power at Anfield. The Brazil-born Portugal international has not enjoyed a standout year at Molineux but he remains someone who they are assessing ahead of what is expected to be a busy and pivotal summer.
Mason Mount, of Chelsea, is another who continues to be linked with a move to Anfield. The England international's contract expires in the summer of 2024 and given the drastic influx of players at Stamford Bridge in the two transfer windows of Todd Boehly's ownership to date, Mount is reportedly considering his options. At 24 and in possession of homegrown status, the attacking midfielder is someone who could appeal.
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Klopp recently hinted that the club have been assessing the market from as early as September, but Liverpool are in something of an unusual position at present. It's the first season since 2018 when participation in the following season's Champions League has not been certain.
The Reds head into their final dozen fixtures as many as seven points adrift of now managerless Tottenham, who currently occupy the final Champions League spot. Two games in hand do make that prospect more palatable but inconsistency has blighted Klopp's side all season, while Newcastle also sit five clear of Liverpool having played the same number of games.
It presents Klopp with the very real prospect of being absent from the European Cup for the first time since 2017. The financial ramifications that will have on a club who are forced to adhere strictly to the self-sustainable model imposed by Fenway Sports Group will surely have a knock-on effect. An absence of Champions League football will also naturally make it harder from a sporting perspective to attract the best calibre of players.
FSG's ongoing pursuit of further investment also perhaps makes it more difficult for those at Liverpool, from a day to day perspective, to know exactly what is feasible with regards to budgets.
“We continue building at Liverpool Football Club in a responsible manner,” principal owner John W Henry told the ECHO earlier this month. “We’ve seen many football clubs (including LFC previously) go down unsustainable paths. We have and will continue to focus our attention on investing wisely in the transfer market and we remain incredibly proud of our squad.
“At the same time we continue investing in our training facilities, our main stand and currently the Anfield Road stand. These are all physical reflections of our resolve and how very seriously Fenway Sports Group takes its responsibilities for this great club.”
It's something those working inside the AXA Training Centre haven't really had to deal with in recent years given qualification to the Champions League was known months in advance.
Last year, the Reds confirmed Fabio Carvalho as a future Liverpool player long before his official summer switch from Fulham, while a deal for Darwin Nunez was thrashed out clinically by sporting director Julian Ward during face-to-face talks with his Benfica counterpart Rui Costa in Lisbon in June, once it became clear Sadio Mane was Bayern Munich-bound.
This time around, there is no such luxury and the landscape is less clear for the recruitment team, meaning lengthier lists of potential targets have been drawn up. During the mid-season break, insiders spoke of there essentially being two lists depending on where the club finish this term and it is understood that more players than usual are currently being assessed.
One helpful aspect that Liverpool will likely have in their favour is the lightening of the load where their wage bill is concerned this summer. With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita set to depart as free agents, as it stands, a significant sum will be saved. Roberto Firmino's departure will also help hugely in that regard although Klopp has previously indicated he would like to retain James Milner for another year after he signed a one-year deal on a reduced salary last year.
Liverpool don't release the specific figures of what their players earn for obvious reasons but the overall wage bill sits around £368m, which is one of the biggest in the sport. The exit of out-of-contract players like Oxlade-Chamberlain, Keita and goalkeeper Adrian will help free up some capital for incomings, while Arthur Melo will also be returning to Juventus after his loan spell is concluded.
"Obviously players are going to leave," Virgil van Dijk said after the 1-0 loss to Real Madrid earlier this month. "That’s obviously been announced so we have to [recruit], if we want to be where we have been the last five years, then we obviously need quality imports, especially with those players leaving. I think that’s quite obvious.
"But everyone knows that’s going to be very difficult, it is going to be very difficult to find the right players but the club has to do their job in this case.
"We still have a lot of games to play for us and we want to be in the Champions League. I think that will also help to attract the best players in the world. Not all the time but it will definitely help."
Such uncertainty presents Liverpool and their recruitment staff with a far from ideal scenario as they approach a massive summer and those tasked with restructuring the squad will have to prove, once more, the sort of adroit and nimble way of operating for which they have become known for in recent years.
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