We’re not even halfway through the current term and Joel Matip has already comfortably made more appearances than in either of the two previous campaigns.
Having endured something of an injury-plagued Liverpool career to date, the season-ending ankle ligament injury he suffered last January ensured he has been ruled out of 81 matches during his five-and-a-half years on Merseyside.
Heading into this season, he has made just 95 league appearances during the past five years, a total which equates to making just 19 outings per season. On average, the Reds could only rely on him for half a campaign each year.
But this season, the narrative has changed for the Cameroonian.
Last year, after losing Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez to season-ending injuries, Liverpool needed him most. As the only senior centre-back left standing, it was a bitter blow when injury decimated his campaign once again.
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But with the aforementioned duo back from injury alongside him, plus £36m signing Ibrahima Konate in the ranks, Matip is making up for lost time.
In the past, Van Dijk’s defensive partner has predominantly been dictated by injuries elsewhere with the 30-year-old, Gomez and Dejan Lovren all in possession of the shirt before losing the place after suffering setbacks.
Yet this year whenever Matip has been missing from the Reds’ starting XI, it has been to manage him carefully to try and eradicate his injury woes of the past.
So far, so good.
Taken out of the firing line for four of Liverpool’s league games so far this season, with Konate starting in his place, the Cameroonian remains first-choice alongside Van Dijk and hasn’t missed a minute in his 12 league starts.
Such usage of him is likely to continue in the weeks and months ahead, considering a busy festive period, but with Klopp also being in this previously rare position of boasting multiple luxuries at centre-back, all available at the same time.
The German is a huge fan of Matip and was delighted to sign him from Schalke on a free transfer back in 2016.
"He's 24 years old, has played over 200 Bundesliga games, played Champions League, played Europa League, won the German Cup in 2011," Klopp said as he rattled through the reasons why the club signed Matip. "He's a big talent who has made big steps in his development in the last few years.
"He's become a real experienced centre-half. He's tall, 1.98m, but flexible and quick. As flexible and quick as a player who is 1.98m can be.
"He's a perfect header of the ball, makes four or five goals a season and is good in the build-up. He was an easy choice. I know in England it's very difficult to bring a player without paying a transfer fee, but I thought that was not a reason not to take him - just because we couldn't write a big number behind his name.
"Ask other clubs in Germany what they would have paid to get him if he still had a contract and use that number."
He continued: "He's a high-quality centre-half. You cannot play at a club like Schalke now since six years always in the starting line-up without having big, big quality.
"For sure, a lot of clubs were interested, but for him it's good because he knows I know him so it's not a coincidence. He will not come here and find a manager who he has to show special things. He has to work, he has to improve, but it's a real good base and he can be a really good centre-half in the Premier League.
"In Germany, when a player of his quality is out of contract, it's a real run (to sign him). Schalke is maybe not a famous club in England, but it's a big club in Germany. The last few years they've played Champions League and they made big offers to keep this player, for sure.
"In Germany, there's maybe only three or four clubs who can get Matip when he's at Schalke. [Borussia] Dortmund? Not possible (due to their rivalry). Bayern of course, or maybe (Bayer) Leverkusen, or Wolfsburg.
"The rest? No chance. Then you start thinking about other countries, and that's what he wants to do. We were early enough. Watch him on YouTube!"
Of course Matip has often rewarded his manager's faith in him and justified Klopp's desire to sign him.
A transfer coup at the time, his has played his part in Premier League and Champions League wins, with his talent when fit ensuring that his sometimes limited availability never saw him discarded, with him always eventually back at the top of Liverpool’s defensive pecking order alongside Van Dijk.
Yet having finally seemed to have moved on from previous injury woes, the defender might reportedly be about to make a decision that could sacrifice his newfound status.
Matip hasn’t played for Cameroon since 2015 but, according to African Insider, is rumoured to be ‘considering’ a return to international football, nearly seven years since his last appearance for the national side, following the election of Samuel Eto’o as president of the Cameroon FA.
Club insiders do consider such a prospect unlikely - but if Matip was to end his own international exile, the Reds could potentially be without him in January when Cameroon host the Africa Cup of Nations, along with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita.
Never a fan of international football, such a prospect would surely fill Klopp with dread.
And the Reds may not enjoy the best relationship with the Cameroon FA, having seen them block Matip from playing when he first withdrew from international selection for the Africa Cup of Nations back in 2017.
Klopp might have the options to cover for a potential absence, with Konate and Gomez arguably Liverpool’s future at centre-back anyway.
But extra excursions on international duty, where, as one Cameroon’s most high-profile players, he would not be managed as carefully as back at Anfield, would increase the risk of Matip sustaining future injuries.
And even if the 30-year-old returned from the Africa Cup of Nations injury-free, opening the door to his defensive team-mates and rivals would present them both with the opportunity to force their own way up the pecking order at his expense. As has been the case repeatedly in the past.
Only this time it would not be out of Matip’s control.
This time, in such a scenario, it would be his choice to be missing for Liverpool.
Playing for Cameroon is obviously his right, as is his choice to withdraw from international selection, and the Reds can have no complaints if he does decide to end his exile.
But considering his record for missing games for Liverpool in the past, such a decision would be gambling with his Anfield status at a time when his place in Klopp’s starting XI has never looked more secure.
