It is undeniably a bit early to make this pronouncement before the transfer window has closed, but I am going to say it anyway: Liverpool can end a drought stretching back nearly three decades and win the Premier League this season.

Can anyone argue against the signings so far? Let’s have a look at them one by one.

The acquisition of Alisson from Roma for a cool £65 million gives Liverpool fans what they have wanted for a long time, a high echelon goalkeeper. The Brazilian is the kind of custodian who radiates confidence and seems to make his own luck.

An upgrade over Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet for certain.

Naby Keita is a player I have watched closely working in Germany these past two seasons. He has been at the forefront of RB Leipzig’s elevation with a dynamic, eye-catching midfield game.

One moment Keita is efficiently breaking up attacks, the next he is bamboozling opposing defences with cleverly-timed passes. Oh, and as part of a rather complete package he can score spectacular goals. In the current market, I believe Liverpool have got themselves a bargain at £52.75m, a figure which came down considerably thanks to Leipzig‘s failure to reach the Champions League.

The midfield reconstruction doesn’t end there. With Emre Can, as expected for some time, having signed with Juventus, Fabinho’s arrival for £39m gives Liverpool added steel and substance. One of the most consistently-dominant players in Ligue 1 at Monaco, he hasn’t moved to Merseyside to sit on the bench, meaning a pleasant problem for Jurgen Klopp in marshalling his centre-of-the-pitch resources.

The fourth addition, that of Xherdan Shaqiri, who has joined from relegated Stoke in a deal worth £13.75m might seem purely decorative, but I beg to differ.

Shaqiri, younger than many would guess at 26, will allow for a more effective rotation amongst arguably the best front three in the Premier League. Liverpool suffered a significant drop off last term when one of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane was rested or unavailable. The Swiss international with top club experience at Bayern and Inter represents a very talented back-up who will see a lot of game time.

Some will wonder whether the defence is properly up to scratch. Liverpool made an important statement in January by making the imperious Virgil van Dijk the latest player to swap the Solent for the Mersey. Scottish observers of course, know all about van Dijk‘s earlier years at Celtic. We could be talking about the Dutchman as one of the foremost defenders in world football for many years to come.

Dejan Lovren, the other first choice centre-back, remains mistake prone but deserves the benefit of the doubt after a sensational World Cup with runners-up, Croatia. A strong reserve centre-back should still be a priority for Liverpool, although Joe Gomez can comfortably operate in that position.

The maturation of Scotland international Andrew Robertson along with the development of Trent Alexander-Arnold, means the Reds are rich in the full-back positions for the long haul.

I covered Borussia Dortmund extensively when Klopp upset the apple cart in Germany winning the title in 2010-11 and then the double in 2011-12. This feels similar to the onset of those heady days in the Ruhr valley.

Don’t get me wrong. Manchester City remain the class act of the field.

The gap between them and Liverpool last term was a yawning 25 points. There will have to be a sizeable downturn in City fortunes for anyone else to capitalise.

It just seems to me, the anyone else in the story this time round, must be Liverpool.

The summer of 2018 can be summed up as an inglorious chapter in German national team history with few winners. Germany’s on-pitch performances in Russia were dull and insipid but have now been overshadowed by Mesut Ozil’s decision to quit international football.

Reinhard Grindel, the president of the national association, the DFB, has spent the week clinging to a lifeboat amid legitimate criticism of his clumsy handling of a sensitive issue. Grindel, a former politician, is supposed to be adept in the art of inclusive talk but you would never know it. He admits to mistakes but clearly is determined to remain in his post.

Germans with parents from Turkey, like Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan, are naturally going to have a dual identity. It can’t really be any other way in a country whose cities all have sizeable and active Turkish communities.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, may not be my cup of tea, but if Ozil feels he should meet and be photographed with him as a mark of family respect, where’s the problem?

The Arsenal playmaker who scored 23 goals in 92 internationals while setting up 39, has been a valuable contributor, no matter what the always outspoken Bayern supreme Uli Hoeness has to say on the subject.

Interestingly, Ozil’s now former national team colleagues have had little to say about him or the whole affair either on social media or elsewhere. The timing of it all is unfortunate for the DFB, as they make a case for Germany to be host nation for Euro 2024. All will be decided on September 27 in a head to head with, as it happens, Turkey!