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For Liverpool to come to the conclusion that committing as much as $169 million (£125 million) on Alexander Isak was the right call, the numbers had to add up.
The goals? Of course. Only Mohamed Salah netted more than Isak did in the Premier League last season. But — and this was often the frustration with Darwin Nunez — there is much, much more required to be a Liverpool number nine.
Against Atletico Madrid, making his first competitive start in 115 days, Isak was relentless in his work ethic. There were flashes of his quality on the ball, but it was his out-of-possession stuff that was most notable.
When a player arrives with such an outstanding goal record, there is a tendency to focus only on that. But not, of course, for Arne Slot.
"The main challenge he has is to become so fit that he is first of all ready to do what he did last season," the Liverpool head coach said on Tuesday ahead of the game.
"And then, speaking about Paris Saint-Germain, I don’t think anyone is surprised that I was mainly impressed by the way they press. So, double-press. And that is what [Ousmane] Dembele was one of the examples [of] that was so outstanding in his pressing game.
"Everybody is focused on Paris Saint-Germain about all the goals they score, but I was mainly impressed by the way they pressed."
Isak was clearly listening. The demands placed on Liverpool players are clear and that won’t change even with more superstars arriving. The fundamentals of the Slot blueprint remain the same.
"The moment Isak is fit and match-fit and can play 90, the next step is playing three times in a week 90 minutes, and then the next step is going one step further in terms of pressing," Slot said.
"And that’s what he has to do. Then, scoring goals and doing special things in attack, that is something he will 100 per cent do."
Isak didn’t just run, but also showcased his link-up ability and began to make the first connections with his new teammates. He didn't score, but he did pretty much everything else.
"It wasn't as if after 10 minutes he was already very tired," Slot told TNT Sports post-match. "He could play at this level quite well after one or two weeks of team sessions.
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"So that was the thing and he can play football and that he's a joy to watch and that is not a surprise to me.
"He was fitter than I expected but the fans can't get their hopes too high. We play three times a week and that's a bit too much for him still."
Whether he starts against Everton or not remains to be seen, but he got almost an hour under his belt here. That, no doubt, will be useful in the weeks to come (and that he didn’t come off at half-time or look completely exhausted is a good sign).
Like with Florian Wirtz, there is much more to come. But as with the German playmaker, Liverpool has only seen the first glimpses — and they are already exciting.
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