Philippe Coutinho was on his way to Barcelona in the summer transfer window.
He was the subject of huge bids from the Catalan giants who were desperate to splash the cash and get the deal over the line quickly; hoping to undo the embarrassment of having Neymar leave the club for the new 'it' team in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain.
But Liverpool stood their ground.
Unlike before when they reluctantly parted company with Javier Mascherano and Luis Suarez, this time they were prepared to put up a fight against Barcelona. And they put up a good one.
Coutinho was forced to hand in a transfer request - via email, which went down very badly among the Reds supporters - in a desperate bid to push through a move as Liverpool turned down increasingly large offers for the Brazilian.
But again the Reds stood firm.
"We wish to offer clarity as regards our position on a possible transfer of Philippe Coutinho," read a statement on Liverpool's website.
"The club's definitive stance is that no offers for Philippe will be considered and he will remain a member of Liverpool Football Club when the summer window closes."
And so when the transfer window slammed shut and Coutinho was forced to come to terms with the fact he'd be playing at Anfield this season, much was made of how he would perform in a Reds shirt.
He didn't play for Liverpool early into the new campaign but began to feature more and more as the season got underway, helping the Reds compete on a number of fronts.
He started for Jurgen Klopp's men in their 7-0 demolition of Maribor in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Coutinho was selected to play in a slightly more attacking position than usual, as James Milner, Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum lined up behind him.
Playing on the left of a three-man attack with Mohamed Salah on the right and Roberto Firmino down the middle, the Brazilian showed exactly why he is so important to the Reds.
He scored one less than his other two strike partners, netting Liverpool's second in the 23th minute of the fixture in Slovenia.
But put in twice the amount of work, dominating the left wing as the away side enjoyed a spectacular 70 per cent possession on the night.