COMMENT: Break the bank or continue their strategic and surgical approach in the transfer market for Liverpool?
As things stand, the Reds are adopting the cautious approach in identifying weaknesses in position and hand-picking talent around the world, as opposed to the Manchester clubs approach of leaving blank cheques at the doorstep of every in-demand star in the world.
Liverpool fans are looking across the park to Everton and losing their minds at the lack of transfer activity as opposed to their neighbours but this is the sort of panic that stems from the club's directors of years past in their summer transfer dealings.
Things have changed at Anfield, and for the better.
Mohamed Salah from Roma for £37million broke the club transfer record and it's rumoured Liverpool will have to break the transfer record a second time this summer to land the Guinean Naby Keita from RB Leipzig.
While they're no £89.3 million type figures as in the case of Paul Pogba to Manchester United, general football inflation will dictate that Liverpool are 'breaking the bank' when in essence, they're not.
£30-40 million figures are the standard in modern football and barring the purchase of Christian Benteke ( £40 million), Liverpool have performed quite reasonably at the transfer market in the past three years.
Adam Lallana (14/15 - £27 million), Roberto Firmino (15/16 -£35 million) and Sadio Mane (16/17 -£35 million) have all been shrewd purchases for the club, and the recent purchase of Salah looks to be a real winner based on the maturity of his stats during his spell in the Serie A.
As mentioned, the next rumoured purchase in Keita has a lofty £70 million price-tag on his head, with Liverpool chiefs reportedly wanting to pay less than £50 million for him and have the deal wrapped up by next week.
Then there is the pursuit of Virgil van Dijk (Southampton) as well as a number of other obscure targets of a lesser price-tag.
Salah, Keita and van Dijk would represent three astute buys if the club is successful in their dealings and you can't help but feeling they are three buys closer to Premier League silverware next season.
Chelsea did as much last season, signing four players in Michy Batshuayi (£34 million), N'Golo Kante (£30 million), David Luiz (£30 million) and Marcos Alonso (£23 million).
Four fresh faces following the tumultuous end to the Jose Mourinho era and it was enough to galvanise and compliment an already solid playing group, with all four playing crucial positional roles in the club's championship season.
A qualitative approach by the Blues and the methodical Antonio Conte which paid the ultimate dividends.
Jurgen Klopp needs to do the same and it looks like he's on the right path.
Former Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler said as much in a recent interview with the Mirror.
"They seem to be concentrating on getting in that bit of extra quality in crucial positions," he said.
"And that is the right policy, rather than splashing their cash on six or eight players, like they seem to have done during the last few years.
"If they have to spend £150m to £180m to get three top-class players, it will be money well spent."
Liverpool, under the tutelage of Klopp and a new vision from its directors have seemingly learned from their mistakes of the past in signing quality over quantity.
Gone are the panic buys of years passed. The German is a far more astute operator than his predecessors.
In the five seasons prior to Klopp's time at the club, Liverpool were spending money on an average of 7.2 players a season.
During Klopp's one and a bit summer transfer windows in charge, he's spent money on just five players last season and one so far this window.
Barring a frenzied end of window pursuit, Liverpool shouldn't get anywhere near the seven to nine players they were signing a season under the likes of Rodgers and Dalglish.
Make no mistake, Liverpool still require depth in their squad and it showed last season at stages, but the directionless '12 items or less' spending spree on items (players) without substance of the past has had its time.
Patience, Reds fans. Sometimes no (transfer) news is good news.
