As closely guarded as the specifics of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk's respective contract impasses have been, it was a matter-of-fact admission from Ibrahima Konate this week that revealed plenty.

Asked for an update on his own Liverpool future, having had the club open talks earlier this season, Konate initially tried to bat away the talk as baseless speculation on Monday, claiming: "Who talked about that [contract offer] a few months ago?

"The club didn't say anything, I didn't say anything, it's one person that says that. I was not ready, I didn't know when he said that but after I spoke with the club. But after, I'm really focused on what happens now and we'll see what will happen."

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Pressed further, he was eventually forced to concede that he had been offered a deal, before wryly stating "this is another conversation" when urged to disclose if he was close to penning it.

The contract offer for a player who is about to enter his prime, at the age of 25, is one of the first major moves of Richard Hughes in his role as sporting director. The Reds chief has come under fire from certain sections for what looks to be a lack of progress where Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold are concerned, but the truth is they have been inherited problems.

The Liverpool squad may be the same one that Jurgen Klopp walked away from last summer, save for the addition of Federico Chiesa, but it's entirely fair to describe the club as "new-look" at executive level following the return of Michael Edwards, as Fenway Sports Group's CEO of football, and the subsequent headhunting of Hughes from Bournemouth, prior to Arne Slot's appointment as the first-ever 'head coach' at Anfield.

In that way then, the offer to Konate is clearly a case of the new regime looking to avoid falling into the same traps as the previous one, where the vacuum that was sparked by the lack of a permanent sporting director - and FSG's quiet exploration over a potential sale of the club itself - created the dead space that allowed time to elapse on the deals of Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk.

Prior to Hughes's appointment, there was no figurehead at Anfield to take the lead on such important decisions aside from Klopp, whose day-to-day duties as manager eventually led to burnout and the formal announcement of his resignation a year ago this weekend.

Contract negotiations were a step too far for Klopp, despite the organic swelling of both his powerbase and the list of responsibilities the more successful he was while in charge.

It partly explains why Liverpool are still yet to reach a resolution on deals for all three of Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, whose future is most closely reported to lie away from Anfield as Real Madrid continue to circle. The latest information from Spain is that the Champions League holders have at least accepted defeat where a January pursuit is concerned.

In the case of the former two, it's still thought that they are only listening to internal offers at present. How much longer that remains the case, however, is anyone's guess. They cannot wait around for much longer without an indication as to what is in store for them and their families from the end of the season onwards, regardless of their desires to stay put.

So the fresh terms that have been placed in front of Konate as well as the new contract for Jarell Quansah earlier this season are examples of Liverpool looking to be more proactive over the contract lengths of their current and future stars.

Lessons, it seems, are being learned. But has it come too late? The end-game is here now where Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold are all concerned and whatever happens from here on in, it's a situation the Reds cannot find themselves in again.