Ten years. And while Fenway Sports Group will perhaps allow themselves a moment to consider such a significant landmark, they are not ones for lengthy reflection.
The focus remains firmly on the future, eyes primarily on the path ahead.
Much has been achieved in the decade since John Henry emerged triumphant down the courtroom steps in London to confirm a new era at Liverpool Football Club.
Whether FSG will be around for another 10 years is debatable, though.
By then, principal owner Henry will be 81 and Reds chairman Tom Werner 80, not exactly ages when anybody wants to be bothering themselves with the finer details of running a football club, never mind a sporting empire.
Nothing last forever, then. But there remain some key tasks for FSG’s current management to oversee during their Anfield tenure.
Keep expanding Anfield
If it wasn’t for the coronavirus pandemic, Liverpool could have been preparing to begin construction on the planned Anfield Road End redevelopment in December.
Instead, the club announced in April they would be postponing the expansion by at least 12 months to December 2021.
Should planning permission be granted, a new £60million, 16,000-seat stand will be built with a view to completion in the summer of 2023.
After the earlier construction of the new Main Stand, that would bump Anfield’s capacity up to more than 61,000, although the club are prepared to review and consider their options in the meantime.
Work at the new first-team training facility at Kirkby, which was halted in March, resumed again in May. But with Melwood still being utilised and under strict health and safety protocols, there is no immediate rush to make the move to the new site.
Rebuild the squad
It’s one thing to spend money to build a squad that can conquer Europe, the world and then, most notably, the Premier League.
But to do it again takes both time, money and yet more on-point recruitment.
The previously steady turnover of managers at Liverpool – and, indeed, almost every other club – meant lack of continuity hampered any hope of long-term planning.
Injuries, retirements and departures meant Brendan Rodgers had to essentially start constructing a second team within four years, without tangible success to fall back upon.
Jurgen Klopp has that. And with the manager in position for the foreseeable, steps are already being taken to future-proof the front three while attention will soon turn to the long-term composition of the midfield. Maintaining the standard won't be easy.
Replace Jurgen Klopp
The most difficult job facing FSG.
Persuading Klopp to prematurely end his sabbatical and come back to management was arguably the owners’ best decision, given the manner in which the Reds boss has since transformed the team and, by association, the mood and perception of the club.
But few expect him to extend his Anfield stay beyond the end of his current deal, which expires in 2024.
That will take him to almost nine years in charge. For context, the last Liverpool manager to stay in the position for such a length of time was Bob Paisley, who retired back in 1983.
Given FSG will hope for another three seasons of Klopp after this one, the search for a successor isn’t pressing. But they will already have their ideas.
Will it be a promotion from within for somebody like Pep Lijnders? Will Anfield legend Steven Gerrard have progressed in his managerial career to be able to step straight in?
What about the likes of Julian Nagelsmann and other young coaches in Europe? Or will someone new break through in the next four years to become a no-brainer?
It won’t be easy. But FSG's hope will be the handover comes with Liverpool still in a position of strength.
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Sell the club
They came, as Henry stated on his first day as owner, to win. But FSG also know a good business opportunity when they see one.
And their long-term plan to embolden Liverpool both on and off the field has long come to fruition.
FSG are already open to investment in the form of a selling a minority share of the club, which would potentially release further funds for either squad strengthening or more infrastructure.
As previously stated, it’s an inevitability Henry and Werner will call it a day sooner rather than later.
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There could be an exchange of power already mooted at the company, a plan of succession already in the pipeline.
Or the time may arrive for FSG to cash in on one of football’s most prized assets having restored it to former glories.
Certainly, their decade of steady progress means Liverpool are far more attractive a business proposition now than they ever have been.
