The window is closing and Liverpool are still without a right flank signing. They have known since March that replacing Mohamed Salah was the priority of the summer, and yet here we are, a fortnight from deadline day, still waiting.

The ongoing links to Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola are not going away, and on pure ability, there is no question he is a quality player. Whether Andoni Iraola sees him operating on the left or the right remains unclear, though you can bet the head coach has a very specific idea of how he wants to use him. There is also talk of interest in PSG's Ibrahim Mbaye, though less is known about what he would bring to Anfield.

The real sticking point, though, is not the tactics, it is the price. PSG are reportedly demanding £130million, and that figure is simply not one Liverpool can entertain. Nobody is disputing that Barcola is a fine footballer, but there is no player in world football who justifies being held to ransom at that level when there is so little certainty about how the move unfolds. This is a high-stakes poker match now, and the question is who blinks first. Supporters are clear on where they stand, they want a top signing, but not at the cost of the club's financial credibility.

What Sunday's matches underlined, starkly, is that Liverpool's squad, as it currently stands, is thin. The gulf in quality between the two sides that featured across the day's fixtures was difficult to ignore, and it raises legitimate questions about whether this group can sustain a genuine Premier League top-four push while going deep into the Champions League.

Trey Nyoni has shown enough in pre-season to earn more minutes this term, and there is real excitement around what he might bring. But exciting young prospects are not a substitute for senior quality. Liverpool need to be adding players right now, not offloading them.

That is why the noise around Cody Gakpo potentially leaving is so troubling. Selling him this summer would be nothing short of reckless. There is already a realistic chance Curtis Jones departs, and Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa are also mentioned in the same breath. If the squad haemorrhages further without bringing genuine quality in to compensate, Liverpool will be in real trouble before October arrives.

Much has been made of the investment agreement struck with the 1892 Holdings consortium, which includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. It would be premature to pass firm judgement before the full details are known, but as a statement of intent and a signal of football's continuing evolution, it is significant. Fenway Sports Group have been measured and disciplined stewards of this club, self-sustainability has been the model, and it has largely worked, but the hope is that this new arrangement offers a little more room to manoeuvre in the transfer market over the long term.

Anyone coming into Liverpool at this level will understand what the club represents. The history, the values, the fanbase, these are not things you tamper with lightly, and successful businesspeople tend to know exactly what they are buying into. The cautious welcome it deserves is probably the right response for now.

Long-term investment is all well and good, but Liverpool's most pressing challenge is happening right now. Leave a replacement signing too late and the club risks a repeat of the Alexander Isak situation from last year, a lesson that clearly left its mark. The Reds cannot afford another deadline-day scramble for a player who never materialises. Time is the one commodity they are running shortest of, and decisions need to be made, at the right price, on the right terms, before the window slams shut.