Jurgen Klopp has been at hand to spring a few surprises with his confirmed 25-man Premier League squad.
It wasn’t just new arrivals at the club that turned heads this summer, but also certain players staying at Anfield despite speculation linking them to moves elsewhere.
Liverpool’s final squad consists of plenty of familiar names, but also a few figures who looked destined to leave the club this summer.
While Philippe Coutinho does not qualify as one of the latter, his place in the squad can be seen to represent a welcomed boost and positive reminder of the great job the club has done in keeping hold of him.
The full squad:
Goalkeepers: Mignolet, Karius, Ward, Bogdan
Defenders: Matip, Lovren, Klavan, Jones, Clyne, Moreno, Robertson, Flanagan
Midfielders: Henderson, Can, Wijnaldum, Lallana, Coutinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Milner
Forwards: Firmino, Mane, Salah, Sturridge, Ings, Markovic
Players under age of 21: Alexander-Arnold, Brannagan, Brewster, Ejaria, Gomez, Grabara, Grujic, Solanke, Wilson, Woodburn
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Winger Lazar Markovic marks one of the more eye-catching inclusions having not featured in preseason and been strongly tipped to move on before Thursday’s transfer deadline.
The 23-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Hull City under Marco Silva, and was expected to follow the manager to Watford, although rumours never managed to materialise into concrete interest.
Markovic has failed to convince since arriving on Merseyside in 2014, making his presence at the club confusing- especially given the level of competition in attacking areas.
Adam Bogdan is, similarly, a bizarre inclusion having not played for the Reds since the end of the 2015/2016 season.
The Hungarian shot-stopper finds himself behind Simon Mignolet, Loris Karius and Danny Ward in the pecking order and is unlikely to play for Klopp again.
Jon Flanagan staying put is another surprise after the full-back endured an unsuccessful loan spell with Burnley last season.
That said, he did impress during preseason and present himself as a useful backup in the view of Klopp.
Liverpool are benefited hugely by the ruling that players under the age of 21 aren’t required to be included in the final 25-man squad. This applies to players set to contribute for the senior team this season in Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez and Dominic Solanke.