Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker earned plenty of plaudits after his performance against Norwich City in the Reds' opening game of the Premier League Season.
The goalkeeper began his fourth campaign for Liverpool in impressive fashion as he kept out a Teemu Pukki effort in the first half and made sublime saves to deny Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson in the final five minutes of the game to ensure the Reds kept a clean sheet.
A calming presence between the sticks, it is no surprise the club and fans were delighted he signed a new long term deal earlier this month, which keeps him at the club until 2027.
The Brazilian is one of four key players that have penned new contracts this summer as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and Virgil van Dijk have all committed their futures to the Reds.
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Retention is evidently key for Liverpool this transfer window, although the club did wrap up their biggest bit of business early on with the signing of Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig.
Despite a desire from supporters to see new faces in the squad, fans can be reassured knowing one of their most important players in Alisson has committed the next six years of his career to the club.
A goalkeeper is a tough player to replace, which is something both Liverpool and Manchester United will be all too familiar with.
Rewind to 1999 and legendary shot-stopper Peter Schmeichel called time on a successful career with the Red Devils in favour of a move to Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon.
In the years that followed, Mark Bosnich, Raymond van der Gouw, Fabien Barthez, Roy Carroll and Tim Howard were all tasked with filling the shoes of the Denmark international.
None of them truly fit the bill.
It wasn’t until 2005 when they signed Edwin van der Sar that they finally landed a long-term solution.
Six years it took the Manchester club to replace Schmeichel and they ensured the same didn’t occur when van der Sar retired at the club in 2011 by lining up David de Gea as his successor.
However, even now there is uncertainty surrounding the position with both De Gea and Dean Henderson, a product of United's academy, both battling to be first choice.
For the Reds, Pepe Reina spent eight seasons as Liverpool’s undisputed no1 when he replaced Jerzy Dudek in 2005, before he spent the 2013/14 season on loan at Napoli and eventually joined Bayern Munich permanently upon his return in 2014.
Simon Mignolet was chosen to replace the Spain international and he spent five seasons with the club, competing with Loris Karius to be first choice.
Despite having the pair to choose from, goalkeeper remained a problem position for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp.
The Champions League final against Real Madrid in 2018 made it crystal clear that the current options were not strong enough and Liverpool needed to spend big to solve the problem once and for all.
That they did as Alisson joined from Roma ahead of the 2018/19 season and it’s no surprise that major success duly followed.
Alisson, combined with the signing of his Brazil teammate Fabinho, completed the spine of this Liverpool team and tying the pair down to long term contract extensions will only aid further achievements for the club.
The swift negotiations following their return after a summer break is testament to the position of strength Liverpool have put themselves in.
History says Liverpool managers and teams of the past would struggle to keep a hold of such world class players, but now under Klopp it has become an expectation.
A look back at United's struggle to replace a player of Schmeichel’s calibre and Liverpool's prolonged difficulty to find a keeper that displays such calmness should serve as a reminder of just how important Alisson’s contract extension truly is.
