Manchester City fans were delighted to read late on Friday night that there had reportedly been significant progress in the race to sign Erling Haaland.
The reports said that City have agreed personal terms with Europe's most sought-after footballer and are in pole position to sign Haaland when his £63m release clause becomes active from Borussia Dortmund. MEN Sport understands no deal is set or agreed but City are in a good position to sign the Norwegian.
As supporters will start to dream of how Haaland will fit in at City under Pep Guardiola, they could do worse than look at how their closest rivals Liverpool have managed to quickly integrate a forward into an already-stellar attack.
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Luis Diaz has begun life at Liverpool in fine style, with his brave goal at Brighton on Saturday evidence that he is ready for the physical demands of the Premier League to go with his undoubted technical ability - although City won't be surprised at that having faced Diaz at Porto in the Champions League last season.
Both Diaz and Liverpool are earning deserved praise for how quickly he has adapted to the very highest demands of English football. He's instantly made his side better and has given Liverpool exactly what they will have wanted from their January addition.
It's the kind of impact City hoped Jack Grealish would have, with the former Aston Villa man only just starting to show the kind of performances he did last season.
That's not to downplay Grealish's season so far - as Guardiola points out, there is far more to his game than goals and assists. He's having to learn a new style and a new role at City, and he has always been a long-term signing despite his record price tag. He's also a completely different player to Diaz, so it's not necessarily a fair comparison.
Yet if Haaland signs, City will expect more of an instant impact like Diaz has given compared to Grealish's start to life at the Etihad given the importance of the striker position to the team. In Diaz's case, his impressive start is simply because his style was more in tune to Liverpool's fast attack than Grealish was to City's more measured build-up.
Klopp said this weekend: "But with Luis, it was interesting because the way he played at Porto is exactly the way we want him to play here. So he hasn't had to adapt really. He still has his moments defensively but he has speed and is a pretty good dribbler."
As a result, Liverpool have thrown Diaz in at the deep end, with five starts from six in the Premier League as well as 97 minutes in the Carabao Cup final. He has come off the bench in the FA Cup and Champions League to show his place is not guaranteed, and has repaid the instant faith with two goals already.
This isn't a new approach to integrating a new signing, but it's clear Diaz has not needed any adapting to his new role - because it's so similar to his old one at Porto. They've played to his strengths, and have a new weapon in the title race as a result.
If Haaland arrives in the summer, his movement and off-the-shoulder approach is one that should slot straight into Guardiola's side. He's a ready-made finisher for all the chances City create, just as Diaz was able to kick on straight away at Liverpool.
The challenge for City is to replicate that seamless change with Haaland, or Julian Alvarez, or any other signing, before slowly adapting the new signing to the intricacies of Guardiola's system. Do that, and they might be onto an instant winner next season.
Not that Haaland will need any encouragement, but allowing him to play exactly how he wants could be the key to ensuring he gets off to a quick start if he does make the move to City.
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