Just 18 months on from his club-record £142million move from Liverpool to Barcelona, Philippe Coutinho's career at Camp Nou already appears to be over.
He wasn't the only big-name mover in January 2018 however, with Alexis Sanchez trading Arsenal for Manchester City having flirted with Manchester City.
At the time their deals were lauded as the transfers that would decimate the Reds's top four challenge and lead Manchester United's title charge in the second half of 2017/18. But that couldn't be further from the truth.
In fact, a year-and-a-half after their respective moves and the biggest impact the duo have had is by changing the face of the English transfer window in recent years.
The window's early closure remains a subject of mass debate among Premier League clubs.
Introduced for the start of the 2018/19 season, the window has closed before the opening top-flight game both last year and this summer.
However, with the European market remaining open until the end of August, the likes of Sir Kenny Dalglish and Mauricio Pochettino have questioned its logic, insisting it puts England's elite at a disadvantage.
The early closure was passed after a Premier League vote in September 2017 after yet another saga-driven summer.
Clubs bemoaned the unnecessary disruption with the likes of Coutinho, Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's futures the source of constant speculation throughout the summer until deadline day.
And while the latter completed a late move to Liverpool, having played for Arsenal against the Reds only days earlier, Coutinho and Sanchez were both reluctantly forced to stay put at Anfield and the Emirates Stadium respectively.
Their enforced stays were only temporary, however. Handing in a transfer request on the eve of the season, Coutinho refused to play for Liverpool until the window closed before belatedly being granted a move to Barcelona in a club-record £142million deal in January 2018.
Meanwhile, having seen Arsenal close the door on a potential move to Manchester City, Sanchez instead moved to Manchester United in a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
18 months on and both clubs will argue each saga was hardly worth the effort.
The pair have both endured torrid spells at Camp Nou and Old Trafford respectively, making more of an impact on the English summer transfer window itself than at either of their new sides.
And both look set to line up in new colours come the close of the European window this summer. Coutinho has already moved on to Bayern Munich on loan while United are currently in discussions with Inter Milan regarding a potential move for Sanchez.
It remains to be seen whether the Premier League will decide to brush their early closure experiment under the carpet as swiftly as Barcelona and United have looked to do so with their transfer flops.
But the deals themselves have proven decisive in Liverpool's rapid climb under Klopp to Champions League winners and Premier League title challenges, leaving United in their wake.
At the time of Coutinho's move to Barcelona and Sanchez's final Arsenal appearance, Manchester United sat two places and three points clear of Liverpool in second place.
Well-aware they were likely to lose the Brazilian, Klopp and sporting director Michael Edwards had a clear plan as they wasted no time in making Virgil van Dijk the world's most expensive defender.
Transforming a frail defence, the Dutchman was instrumental to Liverpool reaching the Champions League final that season, and has been indispensable at Anfield since day one with his efforts seeing him emerge as a favourite for the Ballon d'Or this year.
Meanwhile, Alisson was, albeit briefly, made the world's most expensive goalkeeper last summer as Klopp and Edwards targeted another problem position.
Joining from AS Roma, the Brazilian didn't miss a minute of Premier League or Champions League action as the Reds won the European Cup and came within a point of winning their first league title for 30 years.
Signed alongside Naby Keita, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri, Klopp alluded to both record buys when quizzed about why he didn't re-sign Coutinho earlier this month.
"It sounds a bit strange, but we could not afford it, we have already spent the cash that we got for him," Klopp told Goal and Spox.
With Alisson and Van Dijk having such an impact at Anfield, the German won't have any regrets about selling Coutinho.
“We were reluctant to hand him over, but Barcelona forced us with money, so to speak,” he added. "The move made sense for both sides.
In contrast, signing Sanchez never made sense for Manchester United.
While Van Dijk and Alisson were signed with a clear future for Liverpool in mind, the Chilean was never going to be a long term fit at Old Trafford.
Now 30-years-old, the forward is yet to feature this season while he has made just four Premier League starts since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho as manager.
In 45 appearances for the Red Devils, he has scored just five times.
Reportedly paid £390k a week, he has never proven to be worth anywhere near the money.
Manchester United finished the 2017/18 season six points ahead of Liverpool as Klopp's side became distracted by their run to the Champions League final. Last season they trailed the Reds by a whopping 31 points.
If United are to offload Sanchez, either on loan or permanently, they will have to subsidize his wage for interested clubs to be able to afford him.
But regardless of whether they can find a suitor to take him off their hands of not, they will once again trail Liverpool come the close of the season.
And as Coutinho attempts to rebuild his reputation in the Bundesliga while Ed Woodward and Solskjaer look to reverse United's fortunes, Klopp and Edwards will sit back and admire their transfer business.
Make no mistake, the European champions aren't resting on their laurels. But with Liverpool marshalled by Van Dijk and Alisson at the back, their reign as Premier League title hopefuls is anything but a one-off.