Liverpool may be able to replace Mohamed Salah without paying a penny in transfer fees when the summer window opens for business. The outgoing Premier League champions have been presented with the unenviable task of finding Salah's successor ahead of next season. It will be no easy feat, given that he is arguably their greatest player since Steven Gerrard.
Salah's impending exit will leave a gaping hole in Liverpool's squad and it will be crucial to replace him properly ahead of next season. They have already been linked with a number of big-name players who they would need to break the bank to sign. Yan Diomande, for example, is thought to be valued at around £87million by RB Leipzig.
However, the free agents market could provide Liverpool with an opportunity to replace Salah with a player they very nearly signed instead of the Egyptian maestro.
Jurgen Klopp preferred the idea of bringing in Julian Brandt, but the club's scouting department were convinced that Salah was the better option.
Eventually, the German manager relented and the rest is history. Now, almost a decade later, Liverpool could finally land Brandt for considerably less than they would have paid in 2017.
That's because he is coming to the end of his contract at Borussia Dortmund, meaning he will be available on a free transfer at the end of the season.
It's already been confirmed that Brandt won't be offered a new deal at Signal Iduna Park and there is likely to be no shortage of interest in his signature.
Liverpool won't have to wait until the season ends to snap him up, either. Brandt has been free to negotiate pre-contract agreements with non-German clubs since January.
He still has several years ahead of him at the age of 29 and would offer plenty of experience in the Liverpool dressing room, at a time when the squad is transitioning into a new era.
However, not many would describe Brandt as a world-beater and it remains to be seen if the Reds will decide to pursue other options instead.
Klopp recently reflected on his decision to sign Salah instead of Brandt back in 2017, telling The Anfield Wrap: "The situation with that is if you go for a winger, you talk to seven or eight.
"Yes, we spoke to him, but we spoke to Salah. Whatever people think, I don't care, but in the moment we were convinced he [Salah] was the one, more convinced than he was in that moment. Maybe inside he was.
"When we signed him, I remember he asked me: 'Where will I play?'. Your position, right wing. He said: 'But Sadio Mane is playing there. Don't you think he could play left wing?'. That's for Coutinho.
"He was really worried about if he would play. Can you imagine Mo Salah today compared to that young man at the beginning of his real career?"