In a different world, Carlo Ancelotti would be taking residence in the home dugout at Anfield on Wednesday night.
It was October 2015 when Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group were on the search for a new manager after the sudden and unceremonious sacking of Brendan Rodgers.
The American owners whittled down a shortlist to a very short list, with Jurgen Klopp and Ancelotti installed as the two frontrunners.
In fact, Ancelotti's name initially emerged before Klopp's, with the club briefing a firm denial that the then 56-year-old had been sounded out prior to Rodgers' dismissal.
For FSG, there was no doubting their ambition, as two of the world's most high-profile coaches were drawn up as potential replacements to take over a side who had seen their confidence levels plummet in the dying days of Rodgers' reign.
Liverpool were on their knees when Rodgers was sacked after a 1-1 draw with Everton in October 2015. That result at Goodison Park left them 10th in the Premier League, middling about after a big-spending summer that was failing to yield results.
That FSG targeted two of world football's in-demand managers spoke volumes. There would be no talking down the size of Liverpool Football Club, despite their struggles at the time. They wanted the best and aggressively went after it.
In, the end, it would be Klopp who would win the battle, edging out the Italian and wowing his would-be employers during a lengthy interview in the offices of New York solicitors Shearman and Sterling.
The German was convinced the project at Anfield was enticing enough for him to end a season-long sabbatical just a few months in and return to work. The rest, as they say, is history.
"I did not speak with them," said Ancelotti a month after Klopp's appointment, indicating that FSG had got their No.1 target. The five-time European Cup-winning manager intimated that, like Klopp, he too would have said yes to the chance to manage at Anfield, however.
"If I spoke with them then I can say ‘yes’, but no, I did not.
"They made the right appointment in Klopp. He is a good manager.
"With the best managers you see their identity in their team. Klopp’s Dortmund team had a very strong identity."
Over four years on, Klopp has once more imprinted that "strong identity" at Anfield. His Champions League holders will get set to once more welcome Ancelotti back to Merseyside this week.
and one of the continent's finest tacticians, but there will be no wondering 'what if' from Reds fans when he takes his seat again at Anfield on Wednesday.
