In the story of the Premier League title race, it is Arsenal who has come under the most scrutiny for its January transfer window, after Mikel Arteta failed to add a striker. For its part, Liverpool did no business at all — and yet Arne Slot still quietly received some vital backing from the club.
Considering FSG's reputation as steady, cautious, operators, Liverpool has made reasonably extensive use of the January transfer window in recent times. Perhaps most notable was the dramatic move to hijack Spurs' deal for Luis Diaz, with the Colombian then going on to play major roles in FA Cup and League Cup triumphs in his debut half-season.
The year after that, Cody Gakpo arrived mid-season to strengthen the attack. He has morphed into Liverpool's most important attacker not named Mohamed Salah.
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So with Slot having worked the team into a great position to claim a 20th league title, it was maybe a little surprising to see Liverpool sit out the January transfer window. That's especially true given that Richard Hughes presided over such a quiet summer, with Federico Chiesa the only immediate addition.
Continuity from the Jurgen Klopp era has proved to be a smart strategy. Even so, this looked to be Slot's chance to make his own mark on the squad, gaining an extra option or two in the process ahead of an intense run-in.
But it would be far too hasty to deride FSG for a lack of ambition. Though no signing was made, one decision has massively swelled Liverpool's chances of success come the end of the season.
Something that did happen in the January transfer window was an approach for Darwin Nunez. Hopelessly out of sorts, he had two league goals to his name all season, and yet Saudi Arabia put together a lucrative package.
Al-Nassr offered Liverpool the chance to make back $77m (£62m) of its potential record investment in Nunez. Given his failure to ignite on the pitch over the course of two-and-a-half-seasons, this looked like more than just an easy business decision for FSG — it looked like a get out of jail free card.
For the most part, Liverpool's budget means it cannot afford expensive mistakes as readily as rivals like Manchester City. But this was an opportunity to cut losses in a big way, freeing up a nice big pot of money for some fresh investment.
Yet the Liverpool decision-makers clearly felt that it would be difficult in the short term to replace Nunez with a player capable of making a similar impact in what remains of the season. They passed up the big payday, gambling on the belief that the Uruguayan might yet have one or two big moments in him before the end of the campaign.
There was near-instant justification when Nunez scored a dramatic brace to turn the game against Brentford. And while he followed that up with a quiet spell, the 25-year-old has now once again made his presence felt at a key time in the season.
Though Harvey Elliott was the hero in the first leg against PSG, it was great work from Nunez that created the goal. And he was at it again versus Southampton, scoring one and winning the penalty for another to swing the contest in Liverpool's favor.
Even so, it would take many more of these moments for Nunez's value to actually increase. There's still an acceptance that his Liverpool career is likely to be nearing an end, and that the question of his sale will probably be revisited in the summer — quite possibly at a lower price than the one Al-Nassr was willing to pay in January.
In that respect, keeping hold of Nunez was a pure sporting decision from Liverpool and FSG, who chose not to risk weakening Slot's immediate options despite it meaning a near-certain financial hit. While it has gone under the radar, you can make the case that this was just as ambitious as any signing — and particularly if the season ends in domestic and European glory, it deserves to go down as a masterstroke.
