Jurgen Klopp deserves all the credit in the world for his achievements as Liverpool manager.
The former Borussia Dortmund boss inherited a side in 2015 that had been gutted of key players, overrun with poor signings, dropped from the top four race and disillusioned with Brendan Rodgers.
It was always going to be a long-term project and Klopp took four years to win his first trophy in the job, but Liverpool are now the undisputed champions of the realm.
The Reds bagged their sixth European Cup by defeating Tottenham in the 2019 Champions League final and are now just two wins away from their maiden Premier League crown.
And it's a sensational achievement from Klopp that wouldn't have been possible without his shrewd handling of the transfer market and some of his signings have proven to be sensational.
Liverpool's signings under Klopp
Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are just two names that summarise Klopp's eye for a brilliant signing, but not everybody the German has brought to Anfield has turned out to be a hit.
Bearing that in mind, we've decided to rank who we consider Klopp's 20 major signings for the club from 'pure genius' down to 'absolute clanger' using the ever-popular website 'Tiermaker'.
With 'only' four players making the top tier, there's bound to be some controversy and dispute, so check out our breakdown of the selections below and keep scrolling for the complete graphic.
Absolute clanger
Dominic Solanke
Steven Caulker
Alex Manninger
Solanke appeared to be a series coup from Chelsea on a free transfer in 2017, but looked completely out of his depth at Anfield and scored just once in 27 first-team appearances.
As for Caulker, the one-time capped England defender might be Liverpool's strangest ever buy and achieved little to nothing across four games in which he sometimes inexplicably played as a faux striker.
We feel harsh putting Manninger in this category because, well, he never actually played for the first-team. He deserves to be in the bottom tier, though, even if he was hardly an 'absolute clanger'.
Bang average
Adrian
Xherdan Shaqiri
Loris Karius
Ragnar Klavan
Marko Grujić
Sepp van den Berg
The busiest tier of the lot and we start with Adrian who, contrary to his UEFA Super Cup heroics, has been just as average for Liverpool as he was for the West Ham side that duly benched him.
Shaqiri is another player who has been a little overrated by Kopites for popping up with some crucial goals last season, but it's hard to raise him any higher when he's been such a periphery figure recently. Just six league games and a goal in 2019/20 is nothing to write home about.
As far as Karius is concerned, we're not having the fact he was an 'absolute clanger' on the basis of one game, no matter how important, and 10 clean sheets in the league in 2016/17 is testament to his forgotten quality.
Klavan, meanwhile, will always be loved as a cult figure on Merseyside, but ultimately never did enough to prove himself at Liverpool's high standards across a paltry 39 league outings.
And the jury is still out on Grujić and Van den Berg considering they've only made 18 first-team appearances combined. Time is certainly running out for the former, mind.
Decent
Harvey Elliott
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Naby Keita
Have we been too generous to Elliott? Probably, but his handful of games for Liverpool hitherto have done nothing aside from reinforce his talents and potential that made him the youngest player in Premier League history. Watch this space.
On the flip side, this seems a little harsh on Oxlade-Chamberlain and we've largely been impressed with his screamer-ladened games for the Reds, but injuries have robbed him of enough momentum to warrant a tier above.
As for Keita, his recent friendly displays suggest he's on the way up, though a mixture of inconsistent form and fitness means that his £48 million price tag is looking more and more overpriced.
Brilliant
Joel Matip
Fabinho
Georginio Wijnaldum
Alisson Becker
Matip has looked like a colossus alongside Van Dijk this season and although he took his time to settle at Anfield, the Cameroonian is now rubbing shoulders with Europe's finest centre-backs.
Fabinho is another player who took a while to establish himself at the club, though - unlike Keita - the Brazilian has come on leaps and bounds as one of the Premier League's best defensive midfielders.
Putting Wijnaldum here seems a little harsh, too, seeing as he's been such a top player for the club since 2016, but there are just a few more players we think have set the standards even higher.
Alisson isn't in the top tier!? Whaaaaaat!?
Ok, simmer down, we've put Alisson under 'brilliant' not because of anything he's lacking - besides, he's probably the world's best goalkeeper - but rather the top tier shows the originality of Klopp's transfer genius far better.
The Brazilian was something of a known quantity for his brilliance at AS Roma, whereas the four purchases at the very top were under-the-radar risks that proved to be inspired...
Pure genius
Andrew Robertson
Mohamed Salah
Sadio Mane
Virgil van Dijk
Let's take a moment to think about the origins of three of these players; Southampton, Southampton and Hull City. The other? Well, he completely flopped at Chelsea.
And that's exactly why this quartet of players find themselves in the highest tier of all, showing off Klopp's eye for gauging his signings perfectly and being a brilliant judge of character.
Mane and Salah are Ballon d'Or contenders in their own right, Robertson is unquestionably the world's best left-back on current form and Van Dijk is in the world's top five players overall.
Need we say anymore?
Full graphic
Largely impressive
Aside from the anomalies of Solanke and Caulker, for which there can be no forgiving, let this ranking serve as a demonstration of Klopp's shrewd and sharp-witted approach to the transfer window.
To think he plucked players who would go on to become the world's best left-back and centre-back from mid-table and relegated clubs is testament to his handling of transfers as Liverpool boss.
So, yes, money will have inevitably played its role when Liverpool lift the Premier League title, but boy did the Reds get some bang for their bucks.
