It's easy to forget just how young Raheem Sterling was when he broke into the Liverpool side. It's hard to grasp, for instance, that he is two-and-a-half years younger than Mohamed Salah — although the Reds will certainly not be looking to him as a medium-term succession plan as he seeks a route out of Chelsea .
It is Salah who looks as good as ever, and Sterling who looks jaded and likely finished at the highest level. Between Liverpool and Manchester City , he had played an awful lot of football by the time he reached his "peak" years, and he does not appear to have been blessed with the Egyptian's gift of longevity.
Sterling himself is not ready to give up just yet. It's true that the Chelsea environment is not conducive to anybody thriving right now, and the 29-year-old wants to stay in the Premier League as his club pushes him toward the exit door.
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His options are likely to be limited. Enzo Maresca has at least surely given suitors a free pass to submit lowball transfer offers, having revealed that Sterling will "not get minutes" and has been relegated to the massively bloated group of unwanted players who are training separately. The England international is currently training at home on his own, according to the Times .
It will then be on Sterling to accept a significant wage cut. If he is serious about reviving his career and even getting back in the England frame, then he will do it. But even then, what Premier League side would roll the dice? The answer is certainly not Liverpool.
Yet in other circumstances, perhaps it might have been. It's true that Liverpool looks a little light on the right wing, and while Sterling clearly isn't at all the right profile to take over from Salah, there's a world where he might have made some sense as a cheap and opportunistic depth signing.
After all, not only has he played on that flank over 170 times, he also knows the league inside out. For that matter, he knows the club inside out, although Anfield has changed a lot since he was last there in Red.
And his Liverpool past means he would count not only as home-grown, but club-trained. Those are helpful boxes to tick as Arne Slot looks to meet squad requirements.
This might have been Sterling's one viable ticket into another top-six club, given the unique factors in favor of a move to Liverpool. So he may be having some renewed transfer regret at the way he burned his bridges.
Sterling very much forced his way out of the club, making his feelings known publicly. His destination being Manchester City, who had pipped Liverpool to the title a year earlier, did not help matters.
In hindsight, it's possible to concede that the club was in a bad way at the time, and Sterling netted Liverpool a very tidy sum. Even so, the damage to the relationship is long since done.
The biggest factor that means Liverpool is not one of his options is simply that he has not shown the required levels for the best part of two years. But he might have held out hope for a wildcard move if he had not been so eager to get out nine years ago, something on which he may now have fresh cause to reflect.
Liverpool.com says: Even a couple of years ago, the idea of getting Sterling on a nominal fee and reduced wages might have warranted some serious thought. But now it seems massively far-fetched.
Liverpool might have been prepared to overlook the past in other circumstances. But with Sterling now in need of a club to take a punt on him, he will not find favor at his old side.
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