Liverpool finally got a return that looked worthy of a nine-figure outlay. Bradley Barcola’s Champions League hat-trick against LASK was emphatic, timely and badly needed. More to the point, it felt like the first genuinely weighty statement from Liverpool’s expensive attacking rebuild.

Alexander Isak had started the season well before his latest injury setback. Florian Wirtz has shown flashes without fully taking hold of games. Barcola, though, produced the kind of night that cuts through the noise. Three goals, a proper European headline, and a reminder that top-end talent eventually has to deliver more than promise.

That said, one big night for Barcola does not solve Liverpool’s broader issue. The concern remains availability, especially around Isak and Hugo Ekitike. Talent has never been the argument. Fitness is.

With Liverpool heading to Brentford, Andoni Iraola has decisions to make. Isak has missed the last two matches after being available for the opening seven of the campaign. Given the way Liverpool attacked in Austria, it is fair to assume he would have fancied his chances of scoring had he been involved. Iraola has suggested there is a possibility the striker could return this weekend, but that still feels uncertain rather than imminent.

The problem with Isak is obvious. When he plays, he scores and lifts the attack. When he does not, the discussion immediately turns to whether Liverpool can trust his body over the length of a season. That is not unfair, it is the reality of his career so far.

The warning has now been laid out bluntly by Graeme Souness: “I mean the players they brought in have not really performed to the levels they would want.” That is harsh on Barcola after his hat-trick and arguably premature on Wirtz, but it gets to the larger point. Expensive forwards are judged over months, not moments.

On Isak and Ekitike, the verdict was even sharper: “Isak is fragile, but they knew that when they bought him, Ekitike is fragile and if they continue being like that then they’ve got problems.

“They are goal scorers, you know Isak can score goals in the Premier League and he will get goals for them, but how many games will they play in a season? Wirtz is yet to really, really get going.”