Liverpool were linked extensively with a transfer move for Ferran Torres during the summer with the 20-year-old Spanish winger reportedly on their list of options to bolster their frontline.
Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho was also frequently linked with an Anfield switch, with Torres billed as a cheaper alternative to the England international, but ended up staying in the Bundesliga.
The Reds ended up signing Wolves forward Diogo Jota for an initial fee of £41 million instead - roughly double what Manchester City ended up paying for Torres when they bought him from Valencia around seven weeks earlier.
On the latest Behind Enemy Lines podcast, on the Blood Red channel, Simon Bajkowski, a Manchester City reporter for the Manchester Evening News, explained the impact that the Spaniard has been having so far with Torres in good form heading into the weekend's game.
He said: "City were very, very, very happy to get him for £20 million upfront during the summer. They had liked him for while, like a lot of clubs, and had been watching him for a while.
"They took advantage of the fact that he only had a year left on his contract, and Valencia weren’t in great financial shape so they needed a fee.
"He wasn’t used much before the international break in October but he got goals and assists and he has been used in the centre-forward role with Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero out.
"He creates chances and he gets goals and assists and that is ultimately what you want from the person furthest up the pitch.
"He is very good technically and he is learning quickly.
"He has played himself into contention for the Liverpool game, where at the start of this run of fixtures, he would not have been in the team.
"I wouldn’t be surprised to see him line up on the right and give the team that direct threat that Leroy Sane used to."
Playing through the middle rather than his usual wide berth, scoring and assist more freely than anticipated, and getting himself into the team quicker than expected having been signed during the summer, Torres certainly sounds familiar.
Liverpool new-boy Jota, who will be hopeful of starting his starting role at the Etihad Stadium after his midweek hat-trick, has seven goals this season since signing for the Reds.
Torres is three years younger than Jota and has four goals and an assist in all competitions so far for his new side, slightly less than the Portuguese's seven goal contributions, but the similarities are clear in how their careers have begun.
Jota was brought to Liverpool to add depth, while City needed Torres to replace the departed Sane, who signed for Bayern Munich having rejected a contract extension in Manchester.
Sane has caused plenty of trouble for Liverpool in the past, but now it will be Torres who is aiming to give the Reds' backline a headache.
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