Gini Wijnaldum and his unsigned Liverpool contract is a saga few knew was coming.
With the Dutchman into the final 18 month of terms he signed upon his Anfield arrival in 2016, many - with much evidence to point towards - assumed that he would naturally be offered a new deal at some stage.
Many noted the lengthy list of Wijnaldum's colleagues who had put pen to paper on their own contracts since Mohamed Salah got the ball rolling in June 2018.
But while as many as 10 first-team stars have all posed for pictures with their renewed terms over the past two years, Wijnaldum remains the the odd one out.
Youngsters Neco Williams, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott have also been rewarded for their progress, while Harry Wilson and Nat Phillips signed in 2018 and '19 respectively.
Even Loris Karius was given a new deal when he was exiled to Besiktas on a two-year loan deal in August 2018.
And while that flurry of paperwork has been signed, sealed and delivered by all parties concerned, Wijnaldum has watched the clock tick ever closer to June 2021, on the same contract he signed when he joined from Newcastle in July 2016.
Liverpool took the decision to shelve all contract and transfer negotiations at the start of the lockdown period, feeling they would be much better positioned to know the full extent of their financial hand when life returned to something approaching normality.
That stance included talks with Wijnaldum's representatives, the Dutch-based Players Mix B.V. group, but so far, there has been no indication that a resolution to the situation is forthcoming.
No active talks are ongoing over Wijnaldum's future, it is understood, leaving him in a position where he will walk away from Anfield next year as a free agent.
After playing 37 Premier League games last term for Jurgen Klopp's champions, such a prospect seems unthinkable, but that is the situation both player and club are currently facing up to.
Unless a solution can be found.
One potential avenue is the idea of offloading him in this transfer window. After all, it is the last one where Liverpool will be able to command any sort of acceptable sum for a player of his importance.
Enter, via the process of much speculation, Ronald Koeman and Barcelona.
Within days of Wijnaldum's former national coach taking charge of a battered and beleaguered Barca, the links to Wijnaldum emerged in Spain.
Wijnaldum is a player who Koeman clearly likes, regularly selecting him as the box-to-box engine of his Oranje midfield during his two years at the helm.
Ivan Rakitic's departure to Sevilla earlier this week for a paltry sum only reinforced the idea that Barcelona were lessening their load, from a wage-bill perspective, to swoop in and sign Wijnaldum.
But would the industrious and understated Wijnaldum be accepted by Barcelona fans that demand dazzling 'wow' moments from their midfield as a matter of routine?
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Wijnaldum's lack of numbers in the assists and goals column is already levelled at him by his detractors at Anfield and such critiques would surely intensify at Camp Nou.
The ECHO understands that Barcelona have yet to make their move, however, and Liverpool are planning for the season with Wijnaldum in their ranks.
No bids or talks have taken place since Koeman took charge at Camp Nou, as the Barca board continue to desperately work out the situation involving a certain Lionel Messi and his shock transfer request.
With less than two weeks until the defence of their first title in 30 years gets underway at home to Leeds, time is on the short side if Liverpool are open to selling Wijnaldum and sourcing a replacement in time for the big kick-off.
A reconfigured transfer window gives them until October 5 before their trading ceases, of course, but is Klopp likely to want to head into a season as intense as this one without his ducks in a row on day one?
Given the reams of contract paper that has been printed at Liverpool without Wijnaldum's name on over the last two years, it would seem implausible that a resolution can be found at this stage, particularly when no talks are active.
Of course, the blindingly obvious desire for Bayern Munich to sell a player in a similar boat, in Thiago Alcantara, makes Wijnaldum's story-arch an even more intriguing one.
So what is it to be for the Reds? Another season of Wijnaldum in their squad or the ever dwindling sum they would receive for a player inside the final nine months of his deal?
What is more valuable to the cause at this point? That is the question Liverpool must ask themselves.
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