Not many Liverpool fans will even allow themselves to get excited by this.
With Philippe Coutinho believed to almost certainly be on his way to Barcelona in the coming weeks, talk has now moved to the potential replacements for the Liverpool talisman.
Coutinho's impact will be almost impossible to immediately replicate for any arrivals at Anfield but manager Jurgen Klopp will be hopeful of getting some business done in order to keep his free-flowing attack firing on all cylinders.
Jamie Redknapp had an interesting recommendation for his former side when he claimed that the Reds could do a lot worse than taking a player-plus-cash move for Coutinho, with Luis Suarez returning to his old stomping ground as part of the transfer.
But if Redknapp's proposal was improbable, we can likely stick Steve McClaren's in the impossible category.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/948291118332104705
The former England boss has insisted that he could see a scenario whereby Arsenal's wantaway forward Alexis Sanchez ignored Manchester City's interest in order to set up shop on Merseyside.
Sanchez's contract with the Gunners is up in the summer and, rather than allow him to move for free in six months, it's understood that Arsenal will listen to offers for the Chile international in the January transfer window, with City frontrunners considering their financial clout and the fact that they look destined to be fighting for Premier League trophies for the foreseeable future.
"It's difficult. I would look at Sanchez from Arsenal as there may be a bit of movement there," McClaren told
Sky Sports.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/927638010195300355
"£160 million is a lot of money. You can buy a lot for that [but] Liverpool won't want to lose Coutinho's quality.
"I could [see Sanchez at Anfield]. Sanchez will be ambitious and he's that type of player that could replace Coutinho.
"But when you've got Salah, Mane, Firmino and Lallana, you might not need to replace him that much. Klopp will not want to lose Coutinho."
Supporters struggled to get on board with the idea.
https://twitter.com/DavidHickman87/status/948253935038554113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportbible.com%2Ffootball%2Ftransfers-steve-mcclaren-makes-ridiculous-suggestion-for-coutinho-replacement-20180102
https://twitter.com/IOladiplenty/status/948285599320076288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportbible.com%2Ffootball%2Ftransfers-steve-mcclaren-makes-ridiculous-suggestion-for-coutinho-replacement-20180102
https://twitter.com/MiracleMes/status/948275347639996422?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportbible.com%2Ffootball%2Ftransfers-steve-mcclaren-makes-ridiculous-suggestion-for-coutinho-replacement-20180102
https://twitter.com/ThatUnitedLad/status/948285221396336640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportbible.com%2Ffootball%2Ftransfers-steve-mcclaren-makes-ridiculous-suggestion-for-coutinho-replacement-20180102
https://twitter.com/TheKopSings/status/948275331525464064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportbible.com%2Ffootball%2Ftransfers-steve-mcclaren-makes-ridiculous-suggestion-for-coutinho-replacement-20180102
