It's starting to take shape. The new acquisitions drive past the autograph-hunters at the Melwood gates, having already signed on the most crucial piece of paper: a Liverpool FC contract. Soon each will be asked to stand with a red-and-white scarf above his head, and everybody can look forward to a new chapter in the Reds' history.
It's been a busy summer at Anfield, and in no way is the transfer activity over. Everyone's favourite Welsh choirboy, Craig Bellamy, has been joined by Chilean speedster Mark Gonzalez, who finally received his work permit; Valencia's title-winning full-back, Fabio Aurelio (who becomes the Reds' first Brazilian); and Argentine U-20 central defender, Gabriel Paletta. And that's just for starters. It's still early July.
The distinctly South American flavour is no accident. Over a year ago Benítez identified this part of the world as a valuable untapped resource, and scouting systems were duly implemented. While two of the South Americans arrive via Spain, the tough and uncompromising 20-year-old Paletta is the first to be sourced direct.
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A star of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, alongside Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero, Paletta won't walk straight into the Liverpool side, but like the hugely-cultured Daniel Agger, himself only 21 when picked up in the winter, Benítez has found another top-class youngster ready to at least compete for the position.
The arrival of Valencia's left-back Aurelio came as no great surprise after months of speculation. While John-Arne Riise had a very good season at left back in 05/06, his deputies, Stephen Warnock and Djimi Traore, were not so steady, with the latter reverting to type and returning to his errant ways after a brief display of semi-competence the season before.
Warnock meanwhile is honest and tough, but little more. Aurelio, with greater skill than Riise (as well as the ability to score free-kicks rather than batter the wall), offers the Norwegian a genuine challenge for the spot, and Benítez will either rotate them fairly evenly, or let the best man win if one is clearly shining. But at the very least Riise will remain a valuable squad member, given his versatility, stamina, commitment and shooting power.
Another Brazilan, Daniel Alves of FC Séville, has been heavily linked, although the steep fee seems to be the stumbling block. Solving the problem of the right-hand side has seen numerous protracted negotiations fall flat in the last year, but Liverpool cannot afford to be held to ransom. It's a club where every million counts. The Benítez method is the right player at the right price. Alves is the right man, but if the price does not suit, alternatives will be sought.
Left-winger Mark Gonzalez is perhaps the most exciting of the imports, given his speed, skill and ability to score from any distance, as his performances in La Liga over the past two seasons have proven. He'll add flair and directness to the Liverpool flanks.
Still not quite 23, he is improving season upon season. His 40-yard thunderbolt for Real Socieded outdid even Steven Gerrard's second FA Cup final goal, and Gonzalez's five springtime strikes from midfield were even more significant: they kept Socieded in the top flight of Spanish football. Not bad for a player coming back from a serious knee injury and only joining the club halfway through the season on loan.
Bellamy also offers blistering pace but unlike Djibril Cissé, the man he effectively replaces, he does so with the ball at his feet. Cissé did brilliantly at times, but proved far too erratic and enigmatic for Benítez. Where Rafa wanted a striker with ice in his veins, Cissé too often had nitroglycerine coursing through his.
At £6m Bellamy represents a real bargain; if Liverpool fans feel they lost Michael Owen on the cheap, this proves what goes around comes around, with Owen injured at Newcastle, who nuked any chance of Owen returning to Anfield, and Bellamy, a Newcastle old boy, finally starting to fulfil his potential. Bellamy isn't quite as sharp as Owen in the box (assuming Owen ever rediscovers that sharpness), but he's much better outside it.
In theory Bellamy should dovetail perfectly with Peter Crouch, who can concentrate on being a nuisance in central areas while Bellamy drops deep or spins wide. Bellamy can also do Robbie Fowler's running when the two are paired together. But with both Cissé and Morientes leaving, a further striking option is surely being sought. As ever, several thousand names have been mentioned, but Jermain Defoe and Feyenoord's Dirk Kuyt remain strong rumours.
It's fair to say that Liverpool fans were never the fondest of Craig Bellamy, and they were not alone - he's a neutral's perfect pantomime villain, with his David Beckham pretensions (only without the model looks) and his irascible nature. But he surely knows this is too big a chance, as a boyhood Red, to cock up. Hopefully he's matured. Time will tell.
But I've witnessed little objection to his arrival; most Reds are genuinely excited. It could be said to be the usual football volte-face: once he joins your club he's a saint who can do no wrong. But Liverpool fans won't accept just anyone at their club; Gérard Houllier's move for Lee Bowyer was derailed partly by vehement fan protest. Bellamy was never in that category.
But will all these signings prove enough to land Liverpool's elusive 'number 19'? I'm not sure, although it will improve the Reds significantly. Much depends on what happens elsewhere.
As Benítez continues with what could be dubbed the 'Mourinho Model' of transfers - young, hungry and talented players who are on the up - Chelsea themselves have altered course and gone for world-class players at, or soon to pass, their peak. They've gone for glamour, and their own Galactico system.
The philosophy that worked so dramatically for Chelsea since 2004 has been abandoned by the Stamford Bridge unit. This change could further strengthen the Blues' stranglehold on the Premiership, with players of genuine class arriving; or it could prove their undoing.
If it's the latter, Liverpool will almost certainly be waiting in the wings to take full advantage.
Source: Paul Tomkin, author of 'Red Revival: Rafa Benitez's Liverpool Revolution' for Football 365
Other Articles: Transfers & Rumours - Editorial | Liverpool Sign First Brazilian: Aurelio | Latin Lovers See Red
