Following a campaign which saw them fail to qualify for the Champions League, Liverpool knew that a midfield revamp was needed this summer as the likes of James Milner, Naby Keita, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho all fell below Jurgen Klopp's expectations last season.
With the old guard shifted on, the Reds brought in Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch to become the fulcrums of their all-action, gegen pressing system that Klopp brought to England and became the catalyst to Liverpool dominating in Premier League and Champions League.
While the Merseyside club are aiming to get back to that level and challenge Manchester City for the title, the start they've made would suggest their summer transfer business has been successful, winning three of their first four.
Their biggest success this summer, though, was managing to keep hold of their prized asset Mohamed Salah after swatting away a £215m bid from Al-Ittihad for the Egyptian, and although he remains a Liverpool player, it's entirely possible that he could depart the club in January or next summer.
If that does happen, Liverpool will need a world-class replacement, and they could have already had one ready and waiting in the wings had they managed to sign Jeremy Doku in 2018.
Were Liverpool close to signing Jeremy Doku?
Liverpool were in advanced talks to sign Doku from Anderlecht in 2018 according to reports, as relayed by Sport Witness.
Such a move would have been a bargain £500k, according to the Mirror, but everything fell through.
The Belgian winger, who was 16-years-old at the time, was so close to clinching a move to Anfield before the owner of Anderlecht stepped in and offered him what was a lucrative contract by the club's standards.
While it was only half what Liverpool were stumping up, the three-year deal he signed would see him receive between €500k (£429k) and €1m (£859k) depending on whether he triggered the performance-related bonuses.
Since coming ridiculously close to signing Doku, the Belgian has gone onto become one of the most frightening talents in Europe, sealing a £55m move to treble winners Manchester City this summer.
How good is Jeremy Doku?
Described as "frightening" by former West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand on the Five YouTube channel in April 2022, Jeremy Doku's prospects have risen significantly since those comments were made having starred on the world stage for Belgium and ripped up Ligue 1 with Rennes.
To put his talents into perspective, the only two players to record more successful dribbles across Europe's top five leagues than Doku's 96 last season were Lionel Messi (105) and Vinicius Junior (112).
While in elite company for his dribbling, possessing the explosive acceleration and lightning speed to scare backtracking defenders, it is clear to see why Doku has become one of the most sought-after prospects on the planet and this is backed up by his performances for club and country.
Despite scoring only six goals for Rennes in Ligue 1 last term, the winger's dribbling prowess saw him excel when compared against wingers in Europe's top five leagues, ranking in the top 1% for progressive carries, successful take-ons, touches in the attacking penalty box and progressive passes recorded, as per FBref.
It's this proficient dribbling and explosive ball-carrying that drew Pep Guardiola towards his talents, but also his versatility. Similarly to when the Spaniard signed Raheem Sterling, the Englishman was someone who could play on either flank and in the Belgian speedster, he has found his next dribble-happy wide player.
While he's exciting to watch because of his ability to play on the left or the right, his two-footed nature makes him dangerously unpredictable in one v one situations and that's why Guardiola was desperate to add him to their talented roster of forward players.
Arsenal legend and former Belgium assistant Thierry Henry backed up this claim by waxing lyrical about Doku's talents, saying:
“Rarely in my life have I seen a player come out of a dribble so quickly, extraordinary."
Henry isn't the only French forward to speak highly of the Anderlecht academy graduate, World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe was in awe of his pace, he said:
"Recently, I was speaking with my father about a player who impressed me because of his speed qualities, that is (Jérémy) Doku, at Rennes,”
Having exploded onto the scene in Belgium and made a name for himself in France, Doku is now on the path to becoming a world-beater at Man City, and this has left Liverpool kicking themselves for not getting a deal over the line when he would have cost £500k.