If the portion of Liverpool's fanbase perplexed by the apparent lack of transfer progress was beginning to swell as July approached, the emergence Dominik Szoboszlai has highlighted their folly.
It's fair to reflect a growing number of supporters were becoming more disgruntled by the silence at the front of house of the AXA Training Centre since Alexis Mac Allister traded Brighton & Hove Albion for Liverpool inside the first week of June.
Links to a quartet of players at the Under-21s European Championships have rumbled on in the background but as Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and Manchester City all made significant moves of their own, there was certainly some growing discontent if social media was being used as the temperature gauge.
The speed at which a deal is being done with RB Leipzig for Szoboszlai, however, should at least replenish the reserves of patience and trust further down the line. For some, anyway.
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Liverpool have closed in on a deal for the Hungary captain with a swiftness that has become their trademark in recent years after opening exploratory talks with the player's agents only this week.
Initial discussions held with the Hungarian-based EM Sports, believed to have been as recently as Wednesday, were not said to have been too promising to begin with. Various sources played down the significance of the meeting at the time with some conjecture over the existence of a £60m release clause and the date of its expiry. Those terms expire, officially, on Friday June 30, expediting Liverpool's interest as a result.
Whatever issues needed to be resolved were quickly ironed out to the point that the Reds were talking to Leizpig about concluding a deal by mid-morning on Friday. That is how quickly and dramatically a situation can change in modern football.
The ECHO has learned that Szoboszlai's long-standing desire to play for Klopp has been a major factor in the attacking midfielder's decision, which has left Newcastle United with little choice but to walk away from negotiations.
And it is also understood the breakthrough between the two clubs came as they discussed a deal for Fabio Carvalho, whose season-long loan to kickstart a career that has stalled since the turn of the year was confirmed around Friday lunchtime.
Liverpool and Leipzig have a strong, respectful relationship that dates back over six years to the initial talks for Naby Keita, which began in the Spring of 2017. An unusual agreement was eventually struck between the clubs to allow the Guinea international to join the following summer for a fee that eventually nudged towards £52m.
Since then, the Reds have dealt with the Germans over their move for Ibrahima Konate in 2021 and now Carvalho and Szoboszlai and the two clubs also have similar working practices. Liverpool generally target players in the 22-25 age bracket with huge potential to become stars of the European game while the Germans look to bring them in a few years earlier to help mould them to a level that can see them take that next leap.
It's why players like Josko Gvardiol, Christopher Nkunku and now Szoboszlai are all on the cusp of major Premier League moves. Liverpool have long been aware of the 22-year-old's talents but have kept a watching brief since he took that well-worn path from Red Bull Salzburg to Leipzig in January 2021.
It's clear that after triggering the £35m release clause in Alexis Mac Allister's Brighton contract, Liverpool have continued working at speed behind the scenes. The club sounded out the representatives of Ryan Gravenberch before the end of last season after a year of stagnation following his move from Ajax to Bayern Munich, while Khephren Thuram of Nice and Borussia Monchengladbach's Manu Kone have also been assessed alongside Gabri Veiga at Celta Vigo and Southampton teenager Romeo Lavia.
Liverpool took the decision to walk away from a protracted move for Mason Mount earlier in the window with the £60m Manchester United are set to fork out deemed too much for a player in the final 12 months of his Chelsea contract.
Matheus Nunes, Conor Gallagher and Moises Caicedo have all had the rule ran over them at various points this year too as Liverpool have exhaustively assessed the best way to rebuild a midfield department that struggled for fitness and form collectively before shedding Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner and Naby Keita at the end of the season.
Despite the raft of targets, it is Szoboszlai who is next on the wanted list with Liverpool determined to press ahead with a move before the expiration of that release clause. How quickly things change.
