Liverpool have always been resolute in their stance on transfer spending under Fenway Sports Group, with their plan of action bringing home a sixth Champions League title and a first Premier League win under Jurgen Klopp.
Heading into the summer, though, with a squad currently ravaged with injury worries having fallen well short in the Premier League title race, the question of what comes next is a reasonable one.
The expectation is that Liverpool will err more on the cautious side when it comes to summer spending, with the club having lost £3m per home match while supporters have been absent.
As it stands, the chances of them getting back into the Champions League next season are slim, which would represent further losses and only make the need to return to Europe's top competition even greater.
"Liverpool are one of the teams who are best suited to riding out the storm of the pandemic," said the ECHO's business of football writer, Dave Powell, on a Blood Red podcast special.
"The Man City’s and Chelsea’s will be fine because Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour will always plug that gap - it is Spurs and the like that are really going to feel the pinch."
But that is mainly because of FSG's thrifty, sensible and cautious approach when it comes to deals - something that is highly unlikely to be altered even when the world returns to something closer to normal.
Listen to the latest podcast from Blood Red by clicking HERE
"I don’t see Liverpool’s approach to the transfer market changing - it has served them well for long enough," Powell explained.
"But there is a point with every football club where investment is needed.
"The investment they needed to buy Virgil van Dijk and Alisson was needed - but the Philippe Coutinho deal allowed that to happen.
"But whether Coutinho was sold or not, they needed that investment to push them onto the next level.
"The money that they got for Coutinho, you cannot expect to flip a £142m player from an £8.5m signing every time.
"That £133m profit was a manna from heaven.
"They sold Rhian Brewster to Sheffield United for a hefty profit but this summer, the market is going to be soft.
"Clubs are not going to be as bullish, certainly for fringe players - players like Dominic Solanke - but the market is just not that strong at the moment.
"You wonder whether that will impact what Liverpool can spend in the summer.
"I have seen suggestions that Liverpool will spend big and others that they will be cautious and I lean towards the caution.
"But this is a summer when they need to invest. There is a good chance that they are not going to make the Champions League and that will be a huge hit in the pocket.
"They will have to invest because you can’t just turn to Michael Edwards’ knowledge every single summer and expect him to work miracles.
"The Gini Wijnaldum, Xherdan Shaqiri and Andy Robertson deals - all signed from relegated clubs - the stats weren’t great but if you dig deeper into their contributions, that is why Liverpool signed them.
"But you cannot rinse and repeat the same trick every time."
Turning another big profit on a departure for Liverpool to kick on again like they did with Coutinho will be almost impossible.
But even with big players returning from injury ahead of the new campaign, finding a way to invest and refresh will be vital for Klopp and his squad to get back to their previous level.
.jpg?w=600)
