Time flies when you are having fun…
These past seven years have been some of the most fun that Liverpool fans will ever have watching the side that they love.
2016, such a long time ago yet it still simultaneously somehow only feels like yesterday with the memories so raw in the mind.
Especially in football, you blink and you miss a goal, you miss a red card, you miss a save, you miss a generation.
This generation has flown by, and it seems like football has gone full cycle since 2016 with the departure of Sadio Mane being symbolic of an era ending for Liverpool supporters.
He was the first one.
The first major signing under Jurgen Klopp.
The first signing in that revolutionary 2016 summer transfer window when Klopp started to form his heavy metal footballing monster of a side.
You go back even further to 2015 when Klopp first walked through the door and had his raw team to play with you will find a tall young Belgian lad who gets the responsibility of spearheading a Liverpool side that was dithering and not going anywhere fast.
You’ll find yourself a certain Divock Origi.
Now in 2022, you find these two stalwarts of the Jurgen Klopp era no longer in a red shirt, well not the Liverpool red that they were adored in after so many iconic moments.
Liverpool have come full circle under Klopp having lost the man who wad the catalyst for the start of something special and the man who completed those special moments that we have all witnessed happen with the German manager.
It is symbolic of the end, the end of an era, an era that will be cherished forever and more.
However, thanks to a new contract for the normal one it is also the start of possibly something special, the start of a new era under the helm of Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool done their business early this summer bringing in only three players well before they jetted off for their pre-season tour in Asia.
Fabio Carvalho was brought in from Fulham and Calvin Ramsey came from Aberdeen.
The big money signing though has been the big Uruguayan Darwin Nunez from Benfica for a fee of £64 million to be the main man.
With Mane gone it seemed like he was the replacement, but the signing of Luis Diaz was brought forward to January due to Tottenham’s interest so realistically Nunez isn’t anyone’s replacement.
The 23-year-old adds a whole new element to the frontline for The Reds and also shows how they are going stride for stride with Manchester City as they also signed a big goalscoring striker in Erling Haaland.
With the likes of Takumi Minamino and Neco Williams also being sold to AS Monaco and Nottingham Forest respectively their replacements have already been brought in with youngsters Carvalho and Ramsey.
The hope will be that Carvalho can replicate Minamino’s goal scoring form in the cups whilst also develop and push on to become a first teamer whilst for Ramsey the ambition will be that he can rotate with Trent Alexander-Arnold to be a like for like back-up for him.
Several other youngsters have gone out on loan with a lot more expected to depart after pre-season to gain some vital first-team experience.
Of course as well as that star man Mohamed Salah signed a new contract keeping him at the club for the next few years which puts the cherry on top of the transfer window.
Liverpool’s pre-season tour kicked off with the Bangkok century cup against arch-rivals Manchester United in which they used three different sides in the 90 minutes.
Unfortunately for Liverpool they were beaten 4-0 in Erik Ten Haag’s first game for Manchester United however it is just a friendly which does indeed mean nothing other than fitness for the players.
Liverpool will face Crystal Palace, RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg and Strasbourg for the reminder of warm-up games as well as the Community Shield against Manchester City before the Premier League opener against Fulham.
A possible system change from the famous 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 that Klopp used in his first few months at the club will be the major thing to look out for in the rest of the games as well as of course how Nunez fits in.
Out with the old and in with the new.
Legends have left and potential new ones have come through the door.
Amongst fans the hope will be again to fight for every trophy on offer and achieve glory in one of the big competitions which Liverpool came so close to in the last campaign.
Like every season under Jurgen Klopp it should shape up to be a fun one which gets up and running in a months’ time.
