It's been another massive summer of spending for Todd Boehly and Chelsea. The contrast to Liverpool could not be more stark, with Arne Slot yet to make his first signing — and Raheem Sterling might just have vindicated the new man's approach .
Much like Jurgen Klopp before him, Slot is not simply the unwilling recipient of the FSG strategy. He has publicly stressed his own conviction that this Liverpool squad is a hard one to strengthen, while confirming that the Reds will continue to watch for opportunities.
That idea is alien to Boehly. The concept of having no room to productively improve the squad by throwing money at it has not once dawned on him, despite the paltry return on his huge investment to date in terms of Premier League finishes.
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And the massively bloated roster is now coming home to roost. It took just one game in the new season for issues to surface at Stamford Bridge.
Sterling caused a stir ahead of Chelsea's first match, against his old club Manchester City. His representatives put out a statement after he was left out of the matchday squad for what Enzo Maresca would only call "technical reasons".
You have to feel for the new coach. Even Klopp, a masterful man manager, would have struggled to keep everyone happy for any length of time with such a surplus of options — Pedro Neto has already swelled the attacking ranks, with Joao Felix set to follow.
It's surprising that things have come to a head this quickly, and the statement from Sterling was probably ill-judged. But this is the natural end result of constantly buying to try and fix problems: there are too many players at Chelsea, and very few of them have been given the time and space to develop to the point where they are not susceptible to being "upgraded" by yet more signings.
Admittedly, making no signings at all is at the opposite extreme on the spectrum. But looking at Slot's squad for the opening day, Liverpool's way of doing things certainly looks far preferable.
After all, even with no transfer activity, Liverpool was not a million miles away from a Sterling situation. There were no statements being released, but the breadth of options at Slot's disposal was apparent.
Potential record signing Darwin Nunez did not make it off the bench. Nor did Harvey Elliott or Curtis Jones , considered two of the brightest talents at the club.
They will all get chances over the course of a long season. But you could not say that with the same confidence if Liverpool had gone on a transfer market spree, hoovering up more young talent for the sake of it.
The gap in philosophies between Liverpool and Boehly's Chelsea could hardly be wider. And with Slot aligning himself with his new employer, broadly content to get on the training pitch and squeeze the maximum from the hugely talented group already at his disposal, Sterling's situation might just have proved him right already.
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