Divock Origi started Jurgen Klopp's first Liverpool match in October 2015 and, against all odds, he's one of only three players involved that afternoon at White Hart Lane still at the club.
Along the way, he's been sidelined, sent on loan and put up for transfer but has come out the other side a hugely popular figure in the dressing-room and an even bigger cult figure among the fans.
As team-mate James Milner put it in a recent book: 'What would anyone's life be like without Divock Origi?'
The Belgian striker first burst on to the scene as a teenager at the 2014 World Cup and is still only 24. The bigger the occasion, the better he seems to play.
His two goals in Liverpool's 5-2 victory against Everton on Wednesday means he has scored more in Merseyside derbies than Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane put together.
Last season's Champions League triumph was largely down to him. Another double helped thrash Lionel Messi's Barcelona 4-0 in the semi-final and it was his late strike against Tottenham in the Madrid final that confirmed a sixth European Cup was heading to Anfield.
Not bad for a player sent out to Wolfsburg for the 2017-18 season and returned having scored only six goals in the Bundesliga. How has he turned it around to become a special favourite?
Origi probably owes his affable, laid-back personality to his father Mike, a Kenyan international footballer whose career took him to Belgium, where Divock was born. Both father and son speak excellent English so communication has never been a problem.
Initially, Klopp didn't seem to fancy breaking his famed front three for Origi. Perhaps he was too inconsistent and reliant on pace for the manager's liking, even though he could operate at centre-forward or wide on the left. Significantly, Origi has made more appearances for Liverpool off the bench (66) than he's started (50).
It would be frustrating for any player but Origi's calm approach to life has probably helped him find the patience required to wait his turn.
'Div is so relaxed,' notes Milner in his 2019 handbook Ask a Footballer. 'If we have a team meeting, most of us will be there well before. He is always the last to arrive – never late, or very rarely, but mot more than 30 second before the meeting starts.
'How can I be stressed if this guy is just floating around on Planet Origi, super-chilled, smiling, leaving a trail of his possessions behind him.'
Maybe that 'super-chilled' approach initially frustrated the super-intense Klopp. Origi didn't make a Premier League appearance between August 2017 and December 2018 but everything changed in last season's Merseyside derby at Anfield.
He was sent on to replace Firmino after 84 minutes and in the final minute headed the winner after Jordan Pickford had allowed Trent Alexander's miscue to bounce off the crossbar back into play.
From there, the Origi legend was born and continued apace. He scored another six times last season, nearly all of them of huge importance.
A late winner against Newcastle kept the Premier League title race alive and the decisive fourth against Barcelona from Trent Alexander-Arnold's bluff corner has gone down in legend. It is the most-watched YouTube clip of 2019 with 10 million hits.
Most importantly, Klopp has learned to trust him, which is why he got the nod to start the derby this week.
'What a performance (from Origi),' enthused the Liverpool boss after the latest win over Everton. The goals were exceptional. The second one would 100 per cent be in contention for goal of the week.'
Liverpool fans rave about Origi as much as any of their global superstars. His Facebook page has more than 300,000 likes and an appreciation page set up by supporters bills him as the 'One true GOAT' (greatest of all time).
The popularity does have some drawbacks. A banner displaying a partially-naked Origi was deemed offensive after being unfurled at a Champions League match against Genk.
Perhaps it's Origi's loyalty to Liverpool that endears him to the Kop and made him a genuine cult hero. He had the chance to join Marseille or Wolves in the summer of 2018 but decided to fight for his future at Anfield, despite clearly not being first choice.
The player has since explained: 'I had to trust my instinct. 'I just wanted to stay because I felt there was something good going on and I had a feeling I could help the team.
'Regardless of how the circumstances looked, I tried to focus on the things that were important and it's turned out to be good.'
Origi is back in Belgium's plans ahead of Euro 2020 and set to add a Premier League title to the Champions League.
But he'll be just as happy to know what Liverpool fans think of him with club message boards saturated by examples of their adoration for the 'shining knight' and 'legend' with one supporter declaring: 'I am going to name my children Divock Origi and Divock Origi.'