As with any player that demands a noticeably large transfer fee, the £75 million move of Virgil van Dijk from Southampton to Liverpool was fraught with potential dangers.
Would his performances reflect the money spent? Was he good enough to strengthen Liverpool's seemingly porous back-line? Could he handle the pressure of playing for such a large club?
By and large, the Dutch defender has ticked every box.
Although Jurgen Klopp's men will undoubtedly seek to make progress in next season's Premier League, the arrival of van Dijk has coincided with a monumental Champions League run.
On the cusp of a first Champions League final in seven years, the former Celtic man revealed one telling aspect of Liverpool's remarkable form:
I’ve only been here for three months, but it feels like I’ve been here at least for a season, and I know almost everyone already as much as possible.
Everyone gets along with one another, everyone wants to fight for each other. And there is also that joy within the team that helps a lot in the games too.
It’s just like everyone’s coming here with so much joy to train, and obviously the games, winning helps as well. There’s just a great atmosphere and motivation to keep going and work hard for each other.
It surely would not come as a surprise to many that Klopp has overseen this transformation in fortune. Looking like a team in the best sense of the word, Liverpool have demonstrated a strength of character that few would have expected.
In van Dijk, the German coach found a player he could trust with the grittier elements of Liverpool's game:
I came here on the first day and had a chat with the gaffer.
He told me straight away - you don’t need to think about any price tag, you’re just a football player, you’re going to help us hopefully achieve more things in the future - and nothing else,
Having arrived in January, even van Dijk cannot have foreseen himself walking out in the Champions League final only five short months later.
See out their 5-2 aggregate lead against Roma however, and that is exactly what will happen.
You can read Virgil van Dijk's full interview here.
