It was quite the month for Billy Koumetio.
The teenage defender signed his first professional contract back in August, officially making himself a Liverpool player.
And just a few days later, the 17-year-old was whisked off to Austria with his more senior team-mates as the Premier League champions began their pre-season programme in the town of Saalfelden.
With Dejan Lovren sold to Zenit St Petersburg and Joel Matip still nursing an injury, opportunity knocked for Koumetio as he was drafted into Liverpool's travelling contingent.
A lack of centre-backs meant Klopp was forced to look into the reserves and Koumetio fit the bill perfectly.
"The perfect situation would be that he maybe really first be with the U23s and stuff like this," said manager Jurgen Klopp. "But a training camp is a nice opportunity for him, it's good for us to see him."
A table tennis tournament at the camp was the perfect ice-breaker for Koumetio as he got to know his new team-mates a little bit better.
Those around the Austrian camp spoke of the defender being polite, friendly and keen to learn from his more esteemed colleagues.
With Liverpool's reputation as one of the most durable and fittest teams in the Premier League well earned, Koumetio was gently eased into proceedings with Klopp keen to ensure double sessions were the order of the days in Austria.
"I took him [Sunday] morning in a session because we have to make sure we don't over-do [it] with him," Klopp says.
"It's very important. So he was not part of the last part of the session physically but I took him aside and explained what we do there.
"I think things like this help him a lot and I'm pretty sure he will make big steps. We just have to make sure that we really deal with his age group and physical demands well."
At the age of 17, Liverpool's hesitance was understandable, It's a tough ask for a young player to get up to speed immediately with the champions, from a fitness perspective.
With Koumetio determined to grab the opportunity that had been afforded to him by a lack of options at centre-half, the former US Orelans defender set about trying to make his mark.
Replacing Sepp van den Berg on 68 minutes of the win against Stuttgart the following weekend, the tall centre-back quickly acclimatised alongside Nat Phillips at the heart of the visitors' defence.
"He is physical, very impressive and he looks calm," says one source who was present in Austria. "He has good timing and he is strong and powerful too. Has good speed, all the tools you want in a central defender."
And with 63 minutes on the clock of Liverpool's second pre-season game at Red Bull Salzburg, it was Koumetio who was given the nod over Sepp van den Berg as he replaced Joe Gomez.
With Van den Berg a more familiar player to Klopp, the Liverpool boss was perhaps eager to get a closer look of someone whose development had previously ebbed along without too much spotlight.
As Koumetio landed back on Merseyside on Tuesday evening, the young Frenchman will have been forgiven for thinking he had taken a huge stride in his bid to make the long-term grade at Anfield.
After earning a place on the bench for last season's Carabao Cup game with Arsenal, Koumetio may have drifted his thoughts towards a potential debut for this coming season.
Anfield insiders, however, are reluctant to place too much weight of expectation on the young shoulders of a burgeoning talent.
"You don't want to put any pressure on the boy and you want him to enjoy his football," says a senior figure at the club.
"You want him to make the next steps. We never try to put a player in the wrong position and say he is going to be this or that because that can only work against him. We just let the boy be a boy and watch him improve.
"He has good players around him who he can watch and learn from and hopefully he can make steps with that. That is what the boss has created, to give young boys a chance and we always want to look at that model to find the 'next one' so he can develop.
"We have a good squad and they all help each other. The senior players give them information in the same way the coaches do to improve them and we just try to help them make the next step and that is the same for all the coaches.
"The players are fed information and that all comes from the top with Jurgen and Peter (Krawietz) and Pep (Lijnders). That helps all the young players to make steps. And we try to help as the players do.
"We never like putting pressure on boys though, let's help them make the next step and hopefully the game will show them what they are doing. That is it."
Working with the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez - players who have helped make Liverpool's defence the meanest across the past two Premier League seasons - Koumetio cannot have failed to improve.
And Liverpool supporters may get the chance to find out just how much over the coming months.
A version of this article was first published in August.
