In the final months of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur reign, he would occasionally direct reporters back to the two line-ups when Jurgen Klopp took charge of his first Liverpool game at White Hart Lane in October 2015.

Of the names on Klopp’s first-ever Liverpool team-sheet, only James Milner, Adam Lallana, Divock Origi and Nathaniel Clyne are still at the club. None of those players would now start in the Reds’ strongest side.

Pochettino named a team that included Hugo Lloris, Danny Rose, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Erik Lamela, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane. Ben Davies and Harry Winks were among the substitutes.

Ultimately, Liverpool backed their manager while Daniel Levy eventually sacked his. But if the Tottenham chairman thought he had taken the more cost-effective option, by replacing the coach rather than the players, then the evidence would suggest otherwise.

A long-term hamstring injury to Kane has left Levy with little choice but to significantly dip into the cash reserves for a deputy or risk missing out on Champions League qualification and the associated riches.

Of the 10 players who were part of the goalless draw when Klopp first visited Tottenham, only Lloris has not yet played for Pochettino’s replacement, Jose Mourinho, and the Frenchman will return from injury as Tottenham’s first-choice goalkeeper and captain later this year.