Any Liverpool supporters hoping to see the Reds add to their squad in January were ultimately left disappointed. As deadline day came and went with little of note to report from Anfield, loan exits for the likes of youngsters Jayden Danns and Kaide Gordon were the limit of their involvement.

While Arne Slot has promised that Liverpool are ‘definitely working on strengthening in the summer,’ Federico Chiesa remains the only addition to the squad the Dutchman inherited from Jurgen Klopp last year.

Admittedly, the close-season’s transfer activity has already started for the Reds, with goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili already confirmed to be signing in a £29m deal from Valencia

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Just how busy Liverpool will prove to be beyond that remains to be seen, with question marks remaining over the futures of a number of their players - led by the out of contract Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Depending on departures, it is feasible that the Reds could find themselves in the market for a right-back, centre-back, left-back, defensive midfielder, winger and centre-forward.

But such thoughts can wait until the summer, with Slot’s current squad now focussed on continuing to challenge for all four major honours.

While Liverpool might not have added to their ranks, they did not lose any senior players either. Slot still possesses 22 senior players competing for starting berths, with the likes of Vitezslav Jaros, Tyler Morton, James McConnell, Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni on hand to provide additional depth.

Such strength in depth was demonstrated by Slot having to leave out both Joe Gomez and Chiesa from his matchday squad against Bournemouth on Saturday, due to having a fully fit squad available to him. While Trent Alexander-Arnold was subsequently struck down with a minor thigh injury, the Reds’ hand remains most strong.

Six points clear at the top of the Premier League, through to the Champions League round-of-16 and topping the inaugural league phase and contesting a League Cup semi-final and FA Cup fourth round tie in the forthcoming days, Slot’s side are very much operating in a position of strength.

While some supporters might have liked to see Liverpool add to their ranks from such a position, evidently the stance at Anfield was a case of, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’

Yet the Reds were not alone. From the 20 Premier League sides, they were one of six not to add to their squad in January. Such a hexet is made up of all of the current top four - though Nottingham Forest signed Tyler Bindon on deadline day before loaning him back to Reading for the rest of the season - Newcastle United and Fulham.

Consequently, Man City were the only side in the Premier League top six to add to their ranks mid-season.

Signing Nico Gonzalez (£50m) Omar Marmoush (£59m), Abdukodir Khusanov (£33.6m) and Vitor Reis (£29.6m), their overall spend of £180m was more than the rest of the Premier League combined (£177m). Meanwhile, it is the second-highest spend in a winter window ever, behind Chelsea who spent £275m in January 2023.

Currently 15 points behind Liverpool - having been thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal in their last outing - and facing a Champions League knockout phase play-off against Real Madrid after only just scraping through the league phase, City’s outlay is no surprise.

Pep Guardiola’s side have endured a dismal first half of the season and face a battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with their hopes of defending their Premier League crown long since extinguished.

While City had little choice but to twist and add to their ranks in January as a result, the four sides above them (Liverpool, Arsenal, Forest and Chelsea) were seemingly all content to stick with the hands already at their disposal, given their successful campaigns so far.

That was certainly the case for Slot and the Reds, with the Dutchman again reiterating his faith in his current ranks last week.

"I know people sometimes question this because they haven't seen us doing a lot in the transfer market in the summer and now in the winter as well," he told Gary Lineker in an interview for BBC Sport's Football Focus. "There's a reason for that - because we're happy with the squad."

It should be no surprise that the sides at the top of the table are the ones that are happiest with their squads.

Though that admittedly, comes with the caveat that both Arsenal and Forest tried and failed to sign a new forward in January as they saw bids rejected for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins and Brentford’s Yoane Wissa respectively. But such failure is hardly as catastrophic as it could have been if competing at the other end of the table.

With the Premier League title-race seemingly now a two-horse race between Liverpool and Arsenal, it is certainly a plus for the Reds that Mikel Arteta’s squad also remains unchanged. There will be no shot in the arm at the Emirates as they continue to challenge Slot's men with the ranks they already had at their disposal.

For all the talk of the Gunners’ injury woes this season, they are currently only pencilled to be without long-term absentees Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka when they return to Premier League action at home to Leicester City on February 15.

Liverpool travel to Everton before then on February 12 for their game-in-hand, with the true points difference between the Reds and the Gunners about to become clear.

With neither Liverpool or Arsenal’s hand having changed from the first half of the season now the transfer window has closed, it’s a case of as you were for the two title-rivals. Having lost just once and twice respectively in this season’s Premier League to date, near-perfection is needed as they look to maintain such high standards, with the long race to the finish line in May about to begin.