Where would Liverpool be without Dominik Szoboszlai this season?
Earlier this month, after Liverpool beat Brighton 3-0 to advance in the FA Cup, Mohamed Salah remarked that the Hungarian is now "one of the best players in the world".
So many have struggled this year, but Szoboszlai has stepped up and proved his tenacity matches the talent, not only enjoying new prolific numbers but doing a job at right-back when called upon and working his red socks off.
With another summer of change on the horizon, Arne Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes need to secure similar profiles, and not just in the centre of the park.
Liverpool in record-breaking move for defender
In January, Liverpool secured an agreement with Rennes for the transfer of Jeremy Jacquet, who will cross the travel and head to Liverpool this summer.
However, with Ibrahima Konate headed for the door when his contract expires, Slot must press for further reinforcements, even with Giovanni Leoni making good progress in his recovery from an ACL injury.
According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool are interested in signing Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven, who is unhappy in north London. The Anfield side are joined in their interest by Manchester United and Real Madrid.
That's not surprising. Spurs have fallen by the wayside and are caught within the barbs of an unexpected relegation battle, and Van de Ven appears at his wits' end after dragging his team through so many struggles since joining from Wolfsburg in 2023.
Tottenham recognise Van de Ven's potential to become one of the world's foremost centre-halves and have placed a £100m price tag on him. However, should Spurs fall from the top flight, FSG would be sure to engineer a far more cost-effective deal.
Why Liverpool should sign Van de Ven
Van de Ven has been a pillar of strength in recent years for Tottenham. He was instrumental in winning the Europa League last season and he's been instrumental in fighting against an endless tide of setbacks down N17.
There's good reason for the Dutchman who boast such a towering price tag against the backdrop of Tottenham's interminable problems. He is a ferocious and unique centre-back, startlingly quick, remarkably powerful.
Hailed as a physical "monster" by journalist Elliot Jackson, Van de Ven may have what it takes to become Liverpool's new version of Szoboszlai, should he make the move to Merseyside this summer.
That might seem strange, with the two stars positionally opposed, but Szoboszlai has emerged as Liverpool's talisman in tough times, growing into a superstar having already joined Anfield with a weight of expectation.
Van de Ven is the complete defender, and while Spurs are in a rut, he's completing 89% of his passes and won 63% of his ground duels in the Premier League this season, enduring a lowly 48% success rate for the latter last term.
Given that he would fix a glaring problem in Slot's squad, not just filling a hole in the defensive wall but reshaping that rearguard into something new and more impressive, Van de Ven might just have what it takes to become a standout for a title-chasing side like Liverpool, the symbolic replacement for captain Virgil van Dijk.
Van de Ven has weathered quite the storm at Tottenham, but there's no question that he's shone much brighter than many of his peers in that timeframe, perhaps all of them.
At Liverpool, he would only get better, and the talismanic role he could play from central defence would offer shades of Szoboszlai, stepping into an ageing system and going from strength to strength and reaching superstardom.