The transfer saga is finally over, and Philippe Coutinho has made his dream move to Catalan giants FC Barcelona for around £142m, a British-record transfer fee.
The now-former Liverpool man was expected to leave for La Liga last summer, but Liverpool held off Barcelona's advances and managed to keep hold of their star player for a few more months.
They were, however, only delaying the inevitable, and now they have a huge void to fill in their squad, though they do now have a massive sum of money burning a hole in their pockets, even after their £75m capture of Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk.
Could they nab Keita early?
Short answer: not likely.
It has been widely reported since Coutinho's transfer that Liverpool is desperate to bring the RB Leipzig midfielder to England in this transfer window - he is currently due to join in the summer for a £57m fee.
With the extra cash that the Reds suddenly find themselves holding, they could offer an extra sum of money to persuade the German club to part with their asset Early.
Keita himself would rather join the Anfield outfit this month, with Leipzig out of the Champions League - a competition in which the English side are still competing this season.
Despite this apparent strong financial position, Liverpool may still struggle to convince the German side to part with the Guinean international in January.
Leipzig currently sits fifth in the Bundesliga, but are just two points off second-placed Schalke, with all to play for in the second half of the season in terms of who will qualify for Champions League football next term. RB believes that Keita is key to their challenge.
The club's CEO Oliver Mintzlaff said to Bild earlier this month: "Neither Naby nor his agent have made the request to leave the club in the winter.
"There are contracts, and they say that he will be a Liverpool employee from July 1st onwards."
So if they miss out, who else could they sign?
Riyad Mahrez is supposedly one of the potential Coutinho replacements on Liverpool's radar.
The Algerian, who won the Premier League with his current employers Leicester City in 2016, was reported by BeIN Sports to be having a medical on Sunday, but these rumours proved to be false.
However, rumours of a £50m move to Anfield may not be far off the mark, as the midfielder is supposedly keen to join a bigger club.
Thomas Lemar has been rumoured to be swapping Monaco for Merseyside ever since the start of last summer, and as sure as the sky is blue and water is wet, reports of a move have only increased in volume in the wake of Coutinho's exit.
Both Liverpool and Arsenal supposedly had bids rejected back in August, but the former is expected to revive their interest and could pay a fee north of £100m to get their man.
Other rumoured signings include Arsenal duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, both of whom are currently unsettled at the North London club, and Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka.
All three are in the last six months of their contracts and could be picked up in the summer for free.
Manager Jurgen Klopp should, however, be prudent in his next steps in life after Coutinho - Liverpool boasts a rather impressive list of past players who have been signed to replace star players who have moved on.
The last thing that the German wants is to sign is another Mario Balotelli or Alberto Aquilani. His very future as Liverpool boss may depend on his next moves in the transfer market.
