Liverpool supporters of a certain vintage spent part of their teenage years and early adulthood watching the superstars of Manchester United sweep all before them. How times have changed.
A huge part of that success was down to, of course, the managerial genius of Alex Ferguson, but also the emergence of a group of youth players that would go on to dominate top flight English football for well over a decade. Spawning the likes of Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville and Nicky Butt, the 'Class of '92' were young, talented and fearless and try as they might, Liverpool just couldn't match them.
Fast forward to 2021 and that tortured youth is now nothing but a distant memory. The footballing landscape could hardly look any different to how it was under Ferguson, certainly when it comes to comparing Liverpool and Manchester United. For their part, the Reds still produced a number of youngsters who went onto footballing stardom. Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and latterly Steven Gerrard were some of the clear success stories. The problem was, there just wasn't enough of them. Instead the Reds would speculate in the transfer market, with mixed results, in an attempt to keep pace with the all-conquering Manchester United. Often it was a futile exercise.
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But nowadays the tables have turned on the Reds' East Lancs neighbours and it is they who are throwing good money after bad. The only difference is that everything now costs a lot more than it did back then.
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer signed Crystal Palace right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka for a staggering £50milllion - more than the Reds recently paid FC Porto for winger Luis Diaz - United supporters could have been forgiven for thinking that they had signed the best full-back in Europe.
But just three years after his big-money move to Old Trafford, the 24-year-old has reportedly been told that he must now leave the club, with incoming manager Erik ten Hag about to undertake the mother of all shake-ups at a club that once ruled the country but currently needs a final day win just to secure a place in next season's Europa League.
Wan-Bissaka's demise has not been helped by the comparable progress made by his England full-back peers who have excelled since his big-money move to United. And there is no greater example than Trent Alexander-Arnold. The 23-year-old Scouser is a product of Liverpool's youth academy who broke into the first team in October 2016 in a League Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur.
Since then, Alexander-Arnold has gone on to win every single major honour on offer to him. He won both the PFA and Premier League Young Player of the Season in the title-winning 2019/20 season and has 32 Premier League assists in his last three seasons. By comparison Wan-Bissaka has eight assists to his name over the same period and none this season. One player cost a transfer fee of £50million, the other nothing. But it is the free player who boasts the significantly superior statistics.
But is Alexander-Arnold an exception to the rule when it comes to the success of home grown players? Apparently not. Chelsea right-back Reece James, another youth academy graduate, does nothing to improve Wan-Bissaka's case. In the past three seasons the England star has produced 12 assists and also weighed in with six goals. Alexander-Arnold has eight Premier League goals over the same period. Wan-Bissaka? Two.
That United are now prepared to cut their losses on such an expensive investment demonstrates just how reckless Liverpool's great rivals have become in their efforts to keep pace with The Reds and Manchester City. Wan-Bissaka is of course not the only big money signing to have failed to live up to expectations at Old Trafford and he won't be the last to be shown the exit door this summer.
Centre-back Harry Maguire has endured a torrid season, but cost £80million from Leicester. Jadon Sancho has not yet hit the heights but set the club back a sum of £76.5million. Romelu Lukaku now plays for Chelsea, but not before costing United £76.2million. Angel Di Maria was a vital cog in the success of Real Madrid but didn't like the city of Manchester after completing a £67.5milllion move and left 12 months later.
Perhaps that most significant example of blowing money versus nurturing young players on show is the unsuccessful £94.5million return of Paul Pogba, who started his professional football career as a youth player at - you guessed it - Manchester United.
As football ticks into another off-season next month, the usual transfer merry-go-round will commence with earth-shattering money swapping hands for players who simply cannot guarantee they will live up to their value. Alongside Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool have break through stars such as Curtis Jones, Tyler Morton, Max Woltman and Kaide Gordon, not to mention Harvey Elliott, who could all feature more prominently in Jurgen Klopp's first team next season.
No doubt Liverpool will make one or two big money investments of their own, but it is highly unlikely that they will splurge £50milllion on a full-back.
