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It remains to be seen how much of Alexander Isak Liverpool fans will get to see against Burnley on Sunday. But having spent a British record $169 million (£125 million) to sign him from Newcastle United, the Swede is a central part of the future.
Alongside Isak, Liverpool also splashed mega money on Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen this summer, and committed as much as $106 million (£79 million), including potential add-ons, for Hugo Ekitike. With Rio Ngumoha emerging and Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa in the mix as well, Arne Slot has quite the array of options.
Before all the signings that were made, however, two deals that were done before the window even opened set Liverpool up for the next two years. Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk both signed two-year contract extensions.
In signing Wirtz, Ekitike and then Isak, though, Liverpool has begun to put plans in place for what life without Salah might look like. It would be unwise to bet against the Egyptian being top scorer again this season, but he is 33. He won't be here forever.
Salah, by the time his existing contract ends, will be 35. At that point, he will have been Liverpool's star man for over a decade. But the next generation will be bedded in and ready to take over.
By the summer of 2027, Wirtz will only be 24; Ekitike will be 25 and Isak 27. Each of that trio should still have the best years of their careers ahead of them. Ngumoha, meanwhile, will be yet to turn 19.
Last season, Liverpool had Luis Diaz through the center for much of the campaign. Darwin Nunez, though he does have some qualities, just never worked out.
Perhaps, when Liverpool signed the Uruguayan, the plan was for the attacking emphasis to tilt more in his favor. Nunez, if he could have scored more frequently and been more reliable in front of goal, did always link well with Salah.
But instead, Salah remained the central figure. He and Slot spoke about what role the Dutchman saw for him when he arrived, and compromises over how much defending he would be expected to do were agreed to make the most of his goalscoring.
Slot built the Premier League title-winning team from the players that he inherited, and ensured that the tactical plan involved giving his number 11 the ball as often as possible.
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With Wirtz in the number 10 role and Isak and Ekitike in front of him, though, there is scope for that to change. Salah will still be the main man for now, but the option of spreading the attacking load more evenly would be wise to one day best cope without him.
Undoubtedly, it has always been the case that replacing Salah with one signing would be impossible. A wide player who scores more than most strikers is unusual, and that makes it even more difficult to do so like-for-like.
In snapping up Wirtz and Isak, in particular, though, Liverpool has gotten ahead of the issue. For now, they can play alongside Salah; in the longer term, they will be the primary method of moving beyond him.
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