For all the talk of Liverpool's lack of summer business, there has been an alternative transfer concern that appears to have gone under the radar.
The Reds sent 12 players out on loan at the start of this season and will have been left frustrated by the progress being made by those looking to gain first-team experience.
Ben Woodburn scored his first goals for Hearts in a 5-2 win over Dundee United last weekend and defender Sepp van den Berg has impressed back at Preston North End, but there have been few positives associated with many of the others sent out to impress elsewhere this campaign.
Rhys Williams acts as a prime example of loan issues, having started just two Championship games for Swansea City this season. To make matters worse, he has also been left out of the matchday squad for the previous three fixtures.
The 20-year-old emerged as an unsung hero for the Reds last season alongside Nat Phillips at centre-back, with the pair stepping up to the mark as Liverpool secured a top-four place.
Any progress made by Williams, however, has now been put on pause as he struggles for first-team minutes.
Another player there were high hopes for at the start of his loan spell was fellow Liverpool youngster Paul Glatzel, who joined Tranmere Rovers for the season.
Having made a name for himself at youth level, this was viewed as a real opportunity for the 20-year-old to take the next step in his career by getting his first taste of the world away from Academy football.
Things started positively for the talented striker as he featured in every fixture for the Whites in the month of August, though the dynamic soon shifted.
Glatzel played no part in the following nine League Two fixtures, being left out of the matchday squad on four occasions, and even returned to Liverpool for an under-23s game against Arsenal last month due to his lack of action.
Limited to just EFL Trophy group stage appearances during this time, Glatzel staked his claim for further first-team minutes on Tuesday evening with two goals and an assist in a 3-2 triumph versus Oldham.
Many Tranmere fans anticipated that this could be the turning point in his loan spell and predicted him to start the following game against Sutton on Saturday afternoon.
Rovers boss Micky Mellon thought otherwise: a place back on the substitutes bench was his reward.
And it's not only Glatzel who has been denied the chance to truly test himself in the EFL.
Jake Cain joined fellow League Two side Newport County on August 31 and has started three league games out of a possible 12, meanwhile fellow Academy midfielder Leighton Clarkson has struggled to hold down a place at Blackburn Rovers.
Part of Liverpool's thinking with Clarkson's loan to Blackburn will have been based on the great success Harvey Elliott enjoyed at Ewood Park last campaign.
The 18-year-old made 41 league appearances out of a possible 46, scoring seven times and registering 11 assists before returning to Liverpool a much-improved player.
Clarkson, already two years Elliott's senior, admitted that a conversation with the Fulham academy graduate in the summer convinced him that this was the move to make.
"I had a lot of conversations with Harvey," he told Blackburn FC.
“While we were in Austria we were talking about it and he loved every minute of it here. He said ‘you’ll do well, you’ll get on with the lads, they’re a great bunch of lads and everything about it is a great club."
Luis Longstaff has fared no better in the Scottish third tier, with all but one of his eight appearances for Queen's Park arriving from the bench.
There have certainly been more positive examples though - and instances of loan stints which may have helped boost transfer fees further down the line.
Harry Wilson's spells at Hull City, Derby County, Bournemouth and Cardiff City were certainly beneficial for his development, as was Rhian Brewster's short stay at Swansea during the 2019/20 season.
But a number of individuals are currently finding themselves starved of first-team minutes, unable to break into Jurgen Klopp's side or make an impact away from Anfield.
The challenge for Liverpool is to continue to make the loan system work effectively - either for bringing talent back home with valuable experience or acting as a shop window for future moves.
