Liverpool's academy was the backbone of the club for generations, fuelling the first team with legendary players from Ian Callaghan to Phil Thompson to Robbie Fowler to Steven Gerrard.
In recent years that flow of talent had dried up somewhat, with little homegrown talent for the Kop to sing about breaking through since the Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
Recently, however, a possible revival looks to be underway with Trent Alexander-Arnold making the right back spot his own under Jurgen Klopp, while the likes of Ben Woodburn and Curtis Jones are tipped for big things.
How would a Liverpool team reliant solely on their academy products fare?
Just a imagine for a second, a world without transfers (at senior level anyway). Here's a look at a hypothetical XI made up exclusively of Reds academy graduates, both those still at the club and those who are now playing elsewhere...
1. GK - Peter Gulacsi
Current club: RB Leipzig
Linked with a Premier League move to Arsenal this summer before the Gunners eventually signed Bernd Leno, 28-year-old Hungary international Gulacsi has become a well respected goalkeeper in the Bundesliga after an unassuming start with Liverpool.
Gulacsi joined the Reds as a teenager back in 2007 and became part of the club's youth and reserve ranks, never making a senior appearance before permanently leaving in 2013.
After loan spells at Hereford, Tranmere and Hull, he was picked up by Red Bull Salzburg, where he won two Austrian Bundesliga titles before moving to sister club Leipzig in 2015.
2. CB - Conor Coady
Current club: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Liverpool born and bred, the current Wolves captain joined the Reds' academy in 2005 as a 12-year-old.
Despite impressing at youth level (he won the Under-17 European Championships with England in 2010 and was later made captain of the Reds Under-21 team) Coady managed just two first team outings for the club he supported as a boy, before leaving for Huddersfield in 2014.
After one season, he switched to Wolves where he has excelled under Nuno Espirito Santo, making over 100 appearances and winning the Championship in 2017/18.
His early displays for Wolves in the Premier League this season may have some Liverpool fans wondering what might have been under different circumstances at Anfield.
3. CB - Mikel San Jose
Current club: Athletic Club
Basque defender Mikel San Jose spent three years with Liverpool between 2007 and 2010 before returning to Bilbao, where he has remained ever since.
The 29-year-old never made a senior appearance for the Reds, but has become a mainstay with Bilbao making close to 350 appearances in all competitions since rejoining.
San Jose was also part of Spain's Euro 2016 squad but is perhaps best known outside of Spain for his 50-yard goal against Barcelona in the 2015 Supercopa de Espana.
4. CB - Andre Wisdom
Current club: Derby County
Highly rated as a teenager, Wisdom joined Liverpool's youth ranks from Bradford in 2008.
Like Coady, he was part of England's Under-17 Euro-winning squad, but unlike the Wolves captain, the Leeds-born Wisdom was given chances at senior level, with his rise to the first team coinciding with Kenny Dalglish and later Brendan Rodgers' reliance on youth.
He made 19 first team outings in 2012/13, but subsequently went on four loan moves (Derby, West Brom, Norwich, Red Bull Salzburg) in as many years.
Now 25, he currently plays in the Championship, once again with Derby.
5. RWB - Trent Alexander-Arnold
Current club: Liverpool
Potentially the finest Liverpool academy product since Steven Gerrard, 19-year-old Alexander-Arnold has been part of the Reds set up since he was just six years old.
The attacking full back made his first team debut in 2016 in an EFL Cup victory over Tottenham. In less than two years since, he has become Liverpool's first choice right back, scored in the Champions League, started the final and made the England squad for the 2018 World Cup.
Curiously, despite being Liverpool through and through, Alexander-Arnold is the nephew of former Manchester United club secretary John Alexander, while his grandmother was once in a relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson.
6. LWB - Jack Robinson
Current club: Nottingham Forest
When Robinson made his Liverpool debut as a substitute against Hull in Rafa Benitez's final game in charge of the club back in 2010, he became the youngest player ever do so at the age of 16 years and 250 days*.
While highly thought of at his boyhood club, Robinson found his path to the first team blocked by a slew of more senior pros and would only make two more Premier League appearances for the Reds, before stepping down a level to the Championship.
After spells with Wolves, Blackpool, QPR and Huddersfield, he signed for Nottingham Forest in June.
*That record was later broken by Jerome Sinclair.
7. MC - Lee Peltier
Current club: Cardiff City
Capable at the back or in midfield, Peltier made his first ever Premier League appearance this season at the age of 31, over a decade after leaving his hometown club in search of first team opportunities.
Peltier made four first team outings for Liverpool after graduating from the academy, most notably playing the full 90 in a Champions League defeat to Galatasaray.
The no-nonsense journeyman has been with Cardiff since 2015, making over 100 appearances with Neil Warnock's side. Prior to that, he had spells with Leicester, Huddersfield and Leeds among others.
8. MC - Ovie Ejaria
Current club: Rangers (on loan from Liverpool)
20-year-old Ejaria will spend the 2018/19 season on loan at Steven Gerrard's Rangers, hoping to impress enough to work his way into Jurgen Klopp's first team plans next season.
Part of England's U-17 World Cup winning squad in 2017, Ejaria was signed by Liverpool from Arsenal in 2014 and worked his way through the youth ranks to the fringes of the first team squad, featuring eight times in 2016/17.
Capable of playing centrally or across the midfield, Ejaria could hardly ask for a better coach this season than Gerrard. However, this year is likely to be make or break regarding his Reds future, with Liverpool's expensive assembled midfield not getting any easier to break into.
9. AM - Jordon Ibe
Current club: Bournemouth
After garnering attention as a teen prodigy with Wycombe in League Two (he made his debut before his 16th birthday), Ibe joined Liverpool in 2011 and slotted into the club's U-18 setup.
The direct winger made his Reds senior debut in 2013 in a Premier League clash with QPR, in which he bagged an assist.
Despite a staggered introduction to the first team, Ibe's early career was plagued by the hype associated with such young talents and he failed to fill the void after the departure of Raheem Sterling.
After 58 appearances for Liverpool, Ibe joined Bournemouth for £15m.
10. AM - Suso
Current club: AC Milan
Cadiz-born Suso has consistently been linked with a move back to the Premier League since leaving permanently in 2014, having found his feet and form in Serie A with AC Milan.
The attacking midfielder, who has one cap for Spain, made 21 appearances in five years for the Reds and was never more than a bit part player, with his route to the first team blocked by emerging star Philippe Coutinho.
After a productive loan spell with Almeria, AC Milan took a chance on the young midfielder, who has grown into one of the club's most important players over the last two seasons, contributing 13 Serie A goals in that time.
11. ST - Raheem Sterling
Current club: Man City
Brought to Liverpool's academy from QPR back in 2010 for a fee rising to £5m, Sterling acquisition turned out to be a very shrewd one by the Reds' recruitment team.
Winning the prestigious Golden Boy award in 2014, Sterling went on to make 129 appearances for Liverpool before leaving to join Man City for around £50m.
Now 23, Sterling is one of England's finest attackers and already has 50 Premier League goals to his name.
Honourable Mentions: Danny Ward (Leicester), Martin Kelly (Crystal Palace), Antonio Barragan (Real Betis), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Sheyi Ojo (Liverpool), Tom Ince (Stoke), Ben Woodburn (Sheffield United), Krisztian Nemeth (Sporting Kansas City).