When Brendan Rodgers was dismissed from his managerial position at Liverpool in October 2015, the proud and prestigious Premier League outfit was full of trepidation; sustained success looked like a fleeting and distant memory, and silverware looked unattainable for years to come.
Jurgen Klopp was appointed as Rodgers' successor and Liverpool's quandary was swiftly eradicated, the course was set for an era laden with triumph, with the German manager leading the Reds to glory in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, winning multiple further major honours.
Seasonal fortunes have not been so emphatic in the present day, but Klopp entered a dilapidated shack and crafted a castle, and that will leave him a perpetually revered figure on Merseyside.
Mohamed Salah earns the plaudits for his clinical brilliance, while £75m centre-back Virgil van Dijk has been a colossus since he arrived from Southampton; Trent Alexander-Arnold, the homegrown talent, is one of the most destructive creative forces the Premier League has ever seen.
The nucleus that has held it all together, however, has been captain Jordan Henderson, not always the most respected or endeared figure in English football, the 32-year-old has been the centrepiece of Liverpool's endeavours, a conduit from which all has flowed at Anfield.
How much was Henderson worth at his peak?
Henderson was signed from Sunderland for roughly £20m in 2011, now a stalwart of the club having made 480 appearances, scoring 33 goals, supplying 60 assists and captaining the outfit to every slice of silverware gleaned under Klopp's wing.
At the peak of his powers Henderson was valued at £58m by Football Transfers, but the brilliance of Henderson's Anfield tenure is not marked by numerical figures, but rather by his galvanising presence and orchestrating ability.
Prior to Klopp's first trophy at Liverpool, club icon Steven Gerrard remarked that if the Reds secured the 2017/18 Champions League, Henderson must be considered among the club's very best.
He said: "I believe this Liverpool team are stronger with him in it. If he delivers this Champions League he'll be a legend here forever."
Liverpool failed on that account, but rebounded to win the following year's edition before monumentally triumphing in the Premier League for the very first time, more recently completing the domestic cup double last year.
The £140k-per-week "conductor" – as hailed by one analyst – has indeed been integral to the success, assured in possession with a career average 83.5% pass success rate and tenacious in his all-encompassing engine room role with 1.7 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per match, as per WhoScored.
Henderson has won it all at Liverpool, with the inflation of the initial value evidence of his growth as a player, emerging as one of the game's finest modern leaders under Klopp's tutelage.
Liverpool would have almost certainly cashed in lucratively had they decided to part with the one-time Coventry City loanee, though such a move would have been ludicrous, he has spearheaded one of the most illustrious spells in the distinguished football club's history, and without him, Liverpool may never have tasted such sweet success.