Liverpool have suffered in the early stages of this season, having only won two of their opening six Premier League games, and suffering a drubbing at the hands of Napoli in the Champions League.

Jurgen Klopp could attribute plenty of this misfortune to an absence of his midfield, in which he has seen many of his starters and first reserves ruled out.

They are missing incredible amounts of energy, something which you would never associate with a Klopp side lacking.

Professional data analyst Dan Kennett actually revealed that the Reds had been outrun in every single match they had played this season.

One man who they could be missing more than anyone is actually someone who left last summer: fan favourite Georginio Wijnaldum.

The AS Roma midfielder is currently out with a broken leg, but in his 237 games for the Merseyside club outlined himself as a workmanlike character with the capacity to pop up with a moment of magic.

His most magical moment will likely go down in Anfield history, as his brace helped stoke the flames of their infamous comeback against Barcelona.

The most tragic part of his exit is that he left for free, with the hierarchy unwilling to reward him with a new contract.

That decision has left them hamstrung in midfield ever since, with Thiago a classy addition but one who is so often injured too.

He could feature in any number of positions within Klopp’s midfield, with his pass completion percentage ranking him in the top 4% for midfielders across Europe's top five leagues in the past year.

Whether it was going forward, box-to-box, or sitting deeper, the Netherlands international was capable of it all. It was no surprise that they would miss him, but few would have expected them to struggle as much as they have.

Richard Jolly was one who did, however, claiming that he “might be irreplaceable, partly because Liverpool sometimes do not replace players who go."

He has seen his prophecy come true, and whilst Wijnaldum completes his rehabilitation for Jose Mourinho’s side, if things had been different, he could have still been a stalwart of the Anfield midfield.

With the Reds forced to dip their toes into the market on deadline day to bring Arthur to the club on loan, already possessing Wijnaldum would have solved plenty of their problems. It was clearly a poor call to let him go with such ease.