January signing Luis Diaz has more Dream Team points than summer signing Jadon Sancho
You don't to be a football genius to note the extreme differences between Liverpool and Manchester United in recent times.
While the Red Devils are winding down their fifth consecutive season without a trophy, Jurgen Klopp's side are six games away from possibly winning the quadruple.
One of the reasons for this disparity between the two historic rivals is their contrasting fortunes in the transfer market.
Generally speaking, the Reds have made a host of smart signings over a number of windows that have adapted to the successful environment at Anfield in double quick time.
Whereas Man United have assembled one of the most expensive squads in football history but so many of their new recruits have struggled to make an impact.
Bruno Fernandes (£4.3m) has proven to be a worthy acquisition but a huge amount of money was spent on Harry Maguire (£2.9m), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£2.6m), Donny van de Beek (£1.1m), Paul Pogba (£3.1m), Fred (£2.8m) and several others who are now adjudged by many fans to be unfit for purpose.
A direct comparison can also be made between Liverpool and Man United's newest wingers.
Jadon Sancho (£2.4m) arrived at Old Trafford in the summer for £73million having excelled at Borussia Dortmund.
The 22-year-old desperately struggled to positively influence any game during the first third of the season and while he's steadily improved since then, his return of five goals and three assists in 38 games is underwhelming given the expectations.
Then there's Luis Diaz (£3.7m).
It's already cliched to remark upon how quickly the Colombian has settled in at Anfield and how he seems tailor-made for Klopp's system.
The ex-Porto winger has also scored five goals and provided three assists in all comps since joining a Premier League club but of course the key difference to Sancho is that Diaz has done it in relatively rapid time.
Diaz's goal contributions for Liverpool have come at a rate of one every 159 minutes so far - Sancho is averaging a goal or assist every 314 minutes.
Most damning of all is the fact Diaz has accumulated 69 Dream Team points, seven more than Sancho, despite the fact he was only added to the game in January.
What's most likely a key factor in this discussion is the cumulative effect of success.
For example, if Sancho had joined Liverpool and Diaz had signed for Man United it would be reasonable to assume the former would have had more joy as part of a cohesive team while the latter may have required more time to effectively adapt to his new surroundings.
There's no doubt enough talent has come through the doors at Old Trafford in recent years it's just that no manager since Sir Alex Ferguson has been able to mould a team into something greater than the sum of its parts for a prolonged spell.
Erik ten Hag knows the size of the job he will soon inherit.
As for Dream Team gaffers, Diaz has arrived as a blessing in the second of this season and at £3.7m he's an extremely affordable option for the final month of season, especially considering Liverpool have two finals to bolster their schedule.