Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and Reds' sporting director Richard Hughes
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and Reds' sporting director Richard Hughes
Speaking less than a week after he was confirmed as a Premier League champion, Arne Slot admitted the lack of jeopardy in the remainder of his maiden season at Liverpool allowed him the time to fix his gaze towards the summer.
Slot said that the fact his Reds team had secured a second title in five years, with four games spare, meant the stresses and strains of a battle for the biggest prize in English football could now take a back seat until August, and, as a result, he was able to hold more detailed conversations with sporting director Richard Hughes about the upcoming transfer window.
"In the background, of course I did [plan for next season] already a little bit, because it's not like after we won the league, that's the first time Richard called me and said: 'OK, these are the players we are interested in!'" Slot said.
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"That would be a bit weird if that happened over there. But I think there's a bit more time for that now than there would have been if we still needed three points or a win or whatever. So there's a bit more time now to have these conversations."
So it should come as no real surprise to see Liverpool moving proactively in the wake of Trent Alexander-Arnold's public confirmation of his end-of-season Anfield exit. The club have known since March, at the very latest, of their vice captain's plan to leave when his terms expire in late June, and the sourcing of a replacement in the shape of Jeremie Frimpong this week has been relatively swift.
If transfer talks with prospective targets were largely on hold before the title was officially secured, which is a fair enough assumption, then it's accurate to say Liverpool's stepping-up of their interest in Netherlands international Frimpong this week has been aggressive and dynamic.
The existence of a £30m release clause, coupled with the fact the 24-year-old is said to be hugely keen on a move, meant the club could be relaxed as they surveyed the landscape of a post-Alexander-Arnold world, but talks are firmly in motion now and it is likely the speedy and versatile wing-back will be Anfield-bound before too long.
Slot, as was anticipated, was coy when asked about Frimpong on Friday but Liverpool are actively planning to bring him to the club and personal terms and the triggering of the clause aren't viewed as stumbling blocks.
Add in the fact that the Reds have also reached out to Florian Wirtz's camp to make known their interest in the Bayer Leverkusen playmaker and a picture of a club not resting on their laurels starts to be painted.
Anfield insiders are still of the belief that Wirtz is likely to remain in the Bundesliga by either staying another year at Bayer or defecting to Bayern Munich but the fact Liverpool have made known their admiration to the attacker's entourage, should a Premier League move appeal, means they are thinking ambitiously this summer.
And why not? As champions of England with a 15-point lead heading into the penultimate weekend of the season, it'd take a brave man to bet against the Reds once more next season, particularly given the alterations needed for a shot-shy Arsenal and a Manchester City in a deep phase of transition under Pep Guardiola.
Five years ago, the uncertainty around the pandemic and the prospect of an entire season behind closed doors perhaps limited the scope of ambition when it came to bolstering the squad. A year without match-day revenue was a concern for some risk-averse decision makers.
That Jurgen Klopp's side finished on 99 Premier League points, however, was indicative enough of a squad that didn't need many additions, but around £70m was laid out for Kostas Tsimikas, Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota.
The decision not to replace Dejan Lovren was ultimately one that had a knock-on effect the following season, due to the unprecedented volume of season-ending injuries at centre-back. But there is no sense, in these early days of title afterglow, that Slot and Hughes are going to stand back and admire their work.
This is not the same situation as 2019 either, when the Reds won the Champions League and Klopp decided that keeping that same core together was a better use of his time than chasing a raft of new signings.
Only veteran goalkeeper Adrian was signed as a first-team star alongside young hopefuls Harvey Elliott and Sepp van den Berg six years ago, and history judges that particular call as an inspired one given how the Reds tore through the Premier League the following term.
Within 12 months, Klopp's classic team had lifted the Champions League and Premier League and no-one was bemoaning any lack of activity in the transfer market.
This time, though, there is an end-of-cycle feel to things in certain areas of the squad and the early work - judging by the expected arrival of Frimpong and the willingness to battle for Wirtz - should excite supporters as we creep ever closer to a Bank Holiday weekend that will remind even the most lapsed and jaded of football supporters what the real prize is all about as fans.