In hindsight, Liverpool have a lot to thank Philippe Coutinho for.

The Reds’ talismanic playmaker for five years, the Brazilian damaged his relationship with supporters due to his actions during his drawn out move to Barcelona in January 2018, and there is no escaping the fact that fans will feel a little smug considering his struggles at Camp Nou in the years that have followed.

But, having won the Premier League and Champions League under Jurgen Klopp following the 29-year-old’s exit, could Liverpool have achieved such glory if not for Coutinho?

Leaving in a club-record £142m deal for the La Liga giants, which has since played its part in their financial implosion which cost them Lionel Messi in the summer, the Reds re-invested such funds wisely when bringing in Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for £75m the same month, and landing Alisson in a £65m switch from AS Roma the following close-season.

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With the Reds’ front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane already in place, the defensive duo were the final pieces of the jigsaw, along with £39m signing Fabinho, in turing Liverpool from doubters into believers and ensuring they were nearly men no more.

Klopp’s side had always been free-scoring, only to be let down by defensive mishaps at costly times. 21 Premier League clean sheets in 2018/19, along with six in the Champions League, and 15 in 2019/20, second only to Man City, proved crucial in getting the Reds over the line to become English and European champions.

Meanwhile, with Liverpool spending the Coutinho funds on defensive recruits rather than a direct replacement for the Brazilian, it prompted a change in style for the Reds and made the very most of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson’s attacking prowess.

With the right-back recording seven goals and 45 assists and the left-back boasting five goals and 37 assists since the Brazilian’s departure, such a stance has been more than justified.

But of course, things could have been very different had Liverpool succeeded in signing a replacement playmaker for Coutinho, with a £53m move for Nabil Fekir from Lyon falling through in June 2018.

Had the Reds managed to complete a deal for the France international, it’s open to debate whether they would have then had enough funds left to spare to sign Alisson the following month after Roma suddenly showed a willingness to sell and reduced their initial asking price.

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Yet Fekir wasn’t the first playmaker Liverpool sought as a Coutinho replacement, with the Reds taking steps to replace the Brazilian in August 2017 when Barcelona first made their move for the wantaway star.

Thomas Lemar was then Liverpool’s desired target of choice as they had an initial £55.8m bid and a second offer of £64.8m rejected by Monaco late in the month as transfer deadline day loomed.

Their attempted move for Lemar came having already rejected three bids from Barcelona for Coutinho, with the third one totalling £114m after he had submitted a transfer request.

Aware that the Catalans were not likely to give up on signing the Brazilian, any late Liverpool move for the Monaco man on transfer deadline day was complicated by his involvement in France's World Cup Qualifier against the Netherlands at the Stade De France in Paris that night - a game in which he actually scored an incredible long-range effort.

Michael Edwards even sent medical staff to Paris incase they needed to conduct a medical, however, the Reds would not make a fresh offer for the midfielder after Monaco upped their asking-price following a £92m bid from Arsenal.

Lemar would reject the switch to the Emirates, holding out hope he could still move to Anfield but it wasn’t to be as he ended up staying in France and Coutinho ended up staying at Liverpool.

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By the time January came around, the Brazilian would belatedly move to Barcelona but the Reds never reignited interest in Lemar, as they instead pursued Van Dijk, with Fekir the next subject of their advances the following summer before they settled on the £13.5m signing of Xherdan Shaqiri.

With Liverpool’s interest now elsewhere, the France international ended up signing for Atletico Madrid in a £70m deal in June 2018, but has since admitted he still regrets not being able to complete a move to Anfield.

“Regrets? Maybe. I’m not going to hide it, I was a little disappointed,” Lemar later told Telefoot “Once it's over, it's over, so I try not to think about it.

“I’ve kept working so that these clubs come back during the next transfer window. I am open to all offers. I am a football player, I like football. I do not close any door."

Yet Lemar has done little in La Liga to convince Liverpool they made the wrong decision by not pursuing a move for him further, having rarely provided the returns that prompted initial Reds interest in the first place.

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Returning just three goals and six assists in his first season in Spain, in a year which saw Liverpool win the Champions League, he failed to score or set up any goals entirely in 2019/20 as he was limited to 29 appearances.

The 25-year-old did start for Atletico against Liverpool at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in the first leg of the round-of-16 clash between the two sides in February 2020, but was withdrawn at half time as Diego Simeone's side ran out 1-0 winners before being left as an unused substitute in their 3-2 AET victory at Anfield.

Returning two goals and five assists last season as Atleti won La Liga, Lemar has actually enjoyed a bright start to the current season, recording two goals and two assists from five league appearances, and registered one of each last time out as the Spaniards beat Barcelona, having overcome a muscle injury that saw him miss three games last month.

Now set to face Liverpool, supporters might be more focused on Luis Suarez in attack, but he’ll be looking to show the Reds the error of their ways in not going back in for his services.

Yet, even if he can continue his impressive start to the season against Klopp’s side, Liverpool will have no regrets.

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Whether it’s by luck or good judgement, by not directly replacing Coutinho, Alexander-Arnold and Robertson proved to be exactly the playmakers the Reds needed, however unorthodox.

And be it £70m or £92m, their money was definitely best spent on Van Dijk and Alisson when reinvesting in their squad rather than Lemar.

Their Champions League and Premier League glory speaks for itself and regardless of who has the last laugh at the Wanda Metropolitano on Tuesday night, Liverpool’s transfer failure proved to be a blessing in disguise and the making of Klopp’s European and English champions.