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Under Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool have made a virtue of the often unconventional manner in which they approach the transfer window
Not for them to freely splash the cash like so many of their Premier League rivals.
Even seasoned observers are struggling to ascertain exactly what the big picture is from the Anfield hierarchy at present as the clock ticks down on the transfer deadline
With the Reds-squad in an arguably weaker position than at the end of last season.
It's not a great look, even if it does not properly reflect what's going on behind the scenes.
Certainly, Hughes would have wanted a more straightforward first transfer window
The most obvious issue is the lack of new signings, the only club in Europe's top five leagues not to sign any first-team players.
The squad has an all-too-familiar look that continues
Not that there haven't been departures, Fabio Carvalho's £27.5million switch to Brentford making sense in the FSG tradition of buying a young player and then moving them on at vast profit.
Other fringe players will be sold to bolster the coffers
much-touted teenagers Bobby Clark and potentially Ben Doak on their way out permanently.
Even Stefan Bajcetic, whose first-team pathway was considered so important in recent years, is available for loan, despite Liverpool having not signed a new number six.
Then there are the futures of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who are all out of contract next summer.
not exactly the crescendo sporting director Richard Hughes had indicated was imminent this month.
So, no signings, potentially jettisoning some of the younger talent and not appearing in a hurry to negotiate new deals with key senior players approaching a possible departure for nothing
The Zubimendi situation was, in fairness, unfortunate.
Would having Jurgen Klopp still in charge at Liverpool have made any difference?
Perhaps nobody could have changed the mind of a player - who had previously resisted overtures from Bayern Munich and Arsenal
For Martin Zubimendi in 2024, read Steven Gerrard in 2005. Liverpool of all clubs should have known there was a major risk they could appear embarrassed by a late u-turn.
The real worry for supporters is prompted by the context. Zubimendi, like Leny Yoro earlier in the summer, was regarded an opportunistic signing outside of the expected remit.
That would not perturb had Liverpool been busy with incomings.
But they haven't, and have no immediate alternative plan to sign a number six - so what exactly have they been intent on doing in this market?
The final two-and-a-half weeks of the window will be a test of nerve for both Hughes and supporters.
The overhaul of the hierarchy has left Liverpool understandably playing catch-up in the transfer window this summer.
The concern now, though, is they may have left their business too late, or at the very least given themselves no wriggle room to react to unexpected setbacks
Slot's assertion last month that it would be a surprise if there were no new arrivals is now being put to the test.
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