Red Bull Salzburg boss Jesse Marsch believes he has pinpointed the recruitment strategy that has helped Jurgen Klopp transform Liverpool into world beaters.
The Premier League champions continue their preparations for the new campaign when they take on Marsch's men at the Red Bull Arena in Austria on Tuesday afternoon.
It will see Salzburg reunited with three former players, with Sadio Mane and Naby Keita having featured earlier in their careers and Takumi Minamino making a direct switch in January after impressing during the Champions League group stages against the Reds.
And when discussing the regular business between the two clubs, Marsch has reiterated how interest in the Japan international became concrete.
"Klopp doesn’t call me directly!" said the Salzburg boss. "But I was in the office when they first called about Taki and it was before we played them in the second (Champions League group) game and it is clever from them.
"I have even often said to our scouting department maybe the best way of thinking about how to scout players is to think about what leagues and clubs around the world play a similar brand of football to what we do.
"Maybe that’s a good starting point to think about how we can find good young players to integrate into what we do. Essentially, that’s the strategy that Jurgen Klopp has adopted and he has had success with that."
Marsch, speaking to Goal, added: "I've been asked before about which players from Leipzig and Salzburg could join Liverpool right away, off the top of my head, I could pick five players from each side that would fit into Liverpool perfectly. Then, it would just be about adapting to the level.
"That’s similar to what Taki Minamino is going through right now, he is equipped with all the tools to play in that team and it is just about adapting to the level which things are done.
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"I think this team takes it as a big compliment that a club like Liverpool and a coach like Jurgen Klopp thinks so highly of us.
"Before we played them last year (we had a connection) because we have some ex-players there already. Jurgen Klopp played with our goalkeeping coach at Mainz. There was already a fairly strong connection."
Liverpool beat Salzburg 2-0 when they visited the Red Bull Arena in December for their Champions League group decider. Tuesday's match is being treated as a test match for the return of fans in Austria, with around 1,250 home supporters expected to be in attendance.
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