The Ryan Kent to Rangers saga appeared to reach it's final page this week when Jurgen Klopp delivered a six-word update no Light Blues fan wanted to hear.
"His time is over for loans," were the Liverpool manager's exact words.
That, then, appeared to be that.
After months of to-ing and fro-ing, discussion, commentary and no shortage of speculation Klopp appeared to finally pull the curtain down on any hopes of a second stint at Ibrox for the 22-year-old PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year.
If that wasn't confirmation enough then Steven Gerrard followed Klopp up by stating: "The end of it? Where we are right now, yes."
But with more than four weeks of the transfer window still to run is it really the end of the matter? Mail Sport football writer Scott McDermott isn't convinced.
Rangers might struggle for funds to launch a permanent bid for the winger but, with English sides having just a week left of their window to make a move and nobody looking particularly likely to right now, then what happens then? If Liverpool still have Kent on the books come the end of August, won't they be willing to rethink a loan deal?
Or could, indeed, Rangers put a package together that could coax Liverpool into a permanent deal? An offer based largely on add-ons and incentives, perhaps.
That is the main topic on this week's Record Rangers podcast where Scott joins Fraser Wilson and Calum Loudon to discuss all the latest at Ibrox.
Also on the agenda is
• the latest Alfredo Morelos transfer news and why Rangers might now be looking to offload the Colombian.
• the new code of conduct and what it means for Gerrard's squad
• the start of no ordinary Premiership campaign and if Rangers can halt Celtic's charge to 9 in a row
But first the topic of Kent. And Scott said: "I think there might be a twist on this.
"I'm amazed that after all the groundwork Steven Gerrard has done, the amount of persuasion that's gone on, the amount of chat that Kent enjoys it up here, how Gerrard was going to wait until the last second of the transfer window to try and get it done ...
"I would just be amazed that in a split second if that was all for nothing and there was no chance of a deal.
"Gerrard's comments last night, I thought the interesting point was when he said 'where we are just now, it's dead'. That suggests they might be somewhere else two weeks down the line.
"Liverpool ultimately need a buyer for Ryan Kent. If it is £7million then there's no way Rangers could fork that out in one transfer fee at the moment.
"But could there be a deal there where it's maybe £3.5m up front with add-ons and incentives if Rangers were to win the league and qualify for Champions League?"
Listen to the debate in our player above.
