"I asked him if he liked the six position more... he couldn't show it any more tonight!"
Those were the words of Jurgen Klopp on Wednesday night, referring, of course, to Fabinho, and his switch back to midfield from centre-back for the first game since the Merseyside derby on October 17, in which Virgil van Dijk was injured.
It was only one game, and RB Leipzig largely played into Liverpool's hands with their tactical approach, their performance belying their closeness to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga standings, but the Brazilian's influence was clear.
Thiago Alcantara was transformed and Ozan Kabak and Nat Phillips dealt with everything they needed to, aided by Fabinho sweeping up danger in front of them.
"Fabinho was so good and he has been unbelievable as a centre-back," said Ollie Connolly on the Liverpool.com podcast.
But that gives Liverpool a decision to make ahead of the summer unless they are to miss out on Fabinho playing in midfield again in future.
"You almost just want to pencil him in long-term as the break-glass option - the wildcard in case of emergency, where if this happened again, he is the fifth option, not the fourth," Connolly continued.
"You don't want a situation [which might happen between now and the end of this season] where you are chopping and changing Fabinho between midfield and defence depending on how worried you are about the opposition's attack.
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"That will not help Phillips nor Kabak as they try and figure out a partnership.
"But heading into next season, they need two [more centre-backs to solve the issue].
"One needs to be, maybe not world-class, but who can get to that level at some point, because Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk are coming back from big injuries."
Kabak, with his £18m clause, could fit one of those slots, but the jury is still out on whether he would represent a good investment at that price and how high his ceiling is, even at the age of 20.
Fellow new arrival Ben Davies is also in the mix, though he has not been seen in a Liverpool shirt since his Anfield unveiling over a month ago.
But whether either of those two are deemed the right fit, with Joel Matip's injuries known and Van Dijk and Gomez coming back from long-term absences, the likelihood is that avoiding being forced into Fabinho playing significant numbers of matches at centre-back next season, two options need to be found.
Kabak and Davies could yet be the answer, but Liverpool have 10 league games and whatever happens for the remainder of the Champions League knockout stages to formulate their plan.
