With the British record signing of Alexander Isak, Liverpool's transformation into the Premier League's 'Galacticos' is complete.
The underdog card which Jürgen Klopp played to such powerful effect during his tenure has expired. Anfield is now more reminiscent of the 1970s and 80s heyday when the team was the most attractive and the club the most astute in the country, if not Europe.
Klopp once said he didn't want Liverpool to be the best team in the world, but the hardest to beat. He depicted his side as Rocky Balboa trying to defeat Ivan Drago.
Under Arne Slot, they're the heavyweight champions pushing on to retain their belt for the foreseeable future.
Seeing the club spend over £400m in one transfer window represents a bold new world for those of us emotionally invested in the Merseyside club.
On the back of signing Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, Liverpool are behaving more like Real Madrid under Florentino Pérez, Barcelona at their peak, Manchester United when Alex Ferguson seemed able to sign any top-performing Premier League player he fancied, or Chelsea and Manchester City in the first transfer windows after their respective Roman Abramovich and Abu Dhabi takeovers.
The Fenway Sports Group policy under Klopp was geared towards creating superstars, not recruiting those who have already established their credentials elsewhere.
Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker were proof that if the ideal player could be lured to Anfield, the price could be right at a world-record fee for a defender and goalkeeper. But they were the exceptions and Liverpool were not going head-to-head with clubs of the calibre of Bayern Munich to complete the deals.
This summer, going big has been the rule, and for the first time in my lifetime, Liverpool are front and centre of the conversation when the most coveted and expensive footballers on the planet are on the market.
That will lead to a fundamental shift not only in how the rest of the Premier League and Europe see Liverpool, but how supporters perceive their club.
In the Klopp era, and even going back to when Gérard Houllier and Rafa Benítez were in charge, there was a sense that United, Chelsea and later City could buy whoever they liked and Liverpool had to be smarter, identifying the next big thing and taking risks to steal a march in the transfer market.
Success in those fixtures felt even more satisfying because of the relative economic power of those Liverpool were trying to beat, especially when ownership issues were well-documented prior to FSG's arrival.
Liverpool seal £125m signing of Alexander Isak but Marc Guehi deal falls through
Liverpool have always invested heavily, but signings like Fernando Torres in 2007 were hardly no-brainers, Benítez able to sign him because others had taken a close look and were not sure if he was worth the fee.
The most recent 'superstar' recruit was Thiago Alcântara, but with respect to him his peak years were at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Liverpool signed Thiago when he was looking for a new challenge towards the end of his career.
Wirtz and Isak have committed their best years to Anfield at a premium price.
Even amid this summer's spree, it should not be overlooked that Liverpool are continuing their existing policy, albeit it has come to fruition in the most extravagant way. They have recouped more than £200m in sales and the reason they have spent so much since May is due to timing, not because of a major strategy shift.
They only recruited Federico Chiesa a year ago, and it would not surprise me if the next three transfer windows are quiet at Anfield. Everything is calculated. They will already be succession planning for the end of Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah's contract in 2027, the signings of Isak, Ekitike, Giovanni Leoni part of that.
Salah gave a fascinating interview to Sky Sports over the weekend when he revealed Slot had informed him of the intentions this summer. I cannot help but wonder if Trent Alexander-Arnold was privy to the same information. If not, a penny for his thoughts right now. He was two years away from being the home-grown captain of this team.
The club are tremendously well run and the net spend means they have acted within the rules. That's a tribute to years of planning, and those critical of the owners during previous, less proactive transfer windows must have performed an embarrassing U-turn in the last few months.
That cannot change that Wirtz and Isak will be judged against their high price tags.
Such deals bring tremendous anticipation levels, but added pressure to deliver. When you spend as much as Liverpool, you must win.
Isak's arrival confirms Liverpool as the team to beat. It guarantees nothing with regards to this year's title race. In 1988, the champions paid £2.3m to bring Ian Rush back from Juventus. Defending the crown seemed to be a formality. Arsenal had other ideas.
Slot still has challenges ahead to knit a team together and make it work, as we have seen in the first three Premier League games - the results being better than the performances.
I had some reservations about Liverpool spending so much for Isak after Ekitike's arrival. But excellent as Ekitike has been, seeing him up close when he was interviewed after Liverpool's win over Bournemouth informed me how young he is.
You can't expect someone so inexperienced to carry the goalscoring burden alone. Now it remains to be seen how often he will start. We will also see if Salah can maintain his extraordinary level for the next two years.
You can't defeat age, so for every brilliant Salah performance, indifferent ones may become more frequent. Liverpool now have attacking depth.
They have signed Isak to reach the next level. For most clubs, that next stage is moving from mid-table into Europe, from the top six into the Champions League, or from the top four to title material.
Liverpool want to remain Premier League champions while winning the European Cup. Signing Isak gives them a great chance.