2020, Spain.
[Spain have won the UEFA European Championship, completing Leo's collection of every major international title. Although he has yet to win seven trophies in a single season with Liverpool, they have previously achieved both five-title and six-title seasons. Those were extraordinary accomplishments in their own right!]
[Fans hold massive celebrations to mark Spain's UEFA European Championship triumph!]
[Barnett officially announces that Leo will become an agent at his agency and oversee all of its sub-agents.
From now on, the sub-agents signed by Barnett Agency will operate under Leo's direction, traveling around the world to sign players!]
[Leo announces that Barnett Agency will send out more sub-agents in the future to work with players who have the potential to play in Europe. The Championship, 2. Bundesliga, Segunda División, and leagues of a similar level will serve as the initial destinations.]
The summer of 2020 ended with the spectacle of the UEFA European Championship, capped by Spain lifting the trophy.
Then the new Premier League season began.
This time, however, Liverpool, who had dominated the previous few years and won almost every trophy available, could not recapture their former glory.
Henderson's form declined. Firmino gradually became unable to carry the attack as he once had, while Mané's departure left a significant hole on Liverpool's left flank.
Luis Díaz still needed time to adapt to Liverpool's style of play, while Salah gradually became the kind of goalscoring winger fans joked could do nothing for 80 minutes and then score in the 90th.
Rodri suffered a torn ligament, a severe injury that ended his season. Wijnaldum's departure also left Liverpool desperately short of support in midfield.
Leo was forced to carry Liverpool almost single-handedly as they fought with everything they had.
Then, midway through the season, disaster struck against Everton.
While making a save, Pickford slid into Van Dijk with both legs, tearing the ligaments in Van Dijk's ankle. It was confirmed that he would be sidelined until at least the end of the season.
Ocho was forced into the first-team starting lineup, while the young Konaté had only just arrived in the Premier League and was completely unprepared for this level of intensity.
Agüero nutmegged him. Lacazette outmuscled him in the air.
Moments like those quickly became ammunition for rival fans to mock Konaté.
The reserved Gvardiol still had not truly found his place at Liverpool, even though he was the club's best defender that season.
Fans, however, often felt Gvardiol played too cleanly and therefore could not truly impose himself in the Premier League.
Robertson suffered an ankle injury that kept him out for a month.
With Van Dijk gone, Arnold became the weakest link in Liverpool's defense, earning himself a new nickname from the fans: "Route 66."
Later, Arnold was dribbled past twelve times in a single match, turning the incident into the most-discussed Premier League topic of the season.
The second-most discussed came in Liverpool's FA Cup semifinal against Chelsea, when six of their eleven starters came from the U18 squad.
Compared with the Liverpool side that had won six trophies, only Leo and Salah remained among the regular starters.
By the end of the 2020-2021 season, Liverpool had struggled their way to fourth place, securing Champions League qualification but failing to win a single trophy.
It was the first time in five years, since Leo had broken into the first team, that Liverpool finished a season empty-handed.
At 23 years old, Liverpool captain Leo went an entire season without winning a trophy for the first time in his professional career.
Even so, he was still named Premier League Player of the Season.
[Without Leo, we wouldn't have had a chance of finishing fourth in the Premier League this season!]
[We even reached the Champions League quarterfinals. Can you believe that? Van Dijk was injured, Robertson was injured, Henderson and Firmino weren't even starting, and somehow we still made the quarterfinals. Just look at how incredible Leo was in those two matches!]
[It's fine. It was only one season. Next year, we'll find Liverpool's old glory again!]
On May 22, 2021, with no Champions League matches left to play, Liverpool officially brought their season to an early end.
They would finish without a trophy.
In Matchweek 38 of the Premier League, Leo scored directly from a free kick to give Liverpool a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Manchester United.
With that win, Liverpool finally secured fourth place and, at the very least, preserved their Champions League qualification for the following season.
But after the match, several Liverpool players were preparing to leave.
Every seat at Anfield was filled.
Despite Liverpool's poor season, attendance at Anfield had still remained close to 100 percent throughout the Premier League campaign.
After the final whistle of Matchweek 38, Leo looked around at the Liverpool supporters filling Anfield and ran a hand over the captain's armband on his arm.
For the first time, he felt that he had not achieved enough to make that armband shine.
Firmino, who had come off the bench, scored in his final match for Liverpool.
It was the last Premier League appearance of his Liverpool career.
Henderson was already in tears.
As the Liverpool supporters around him sang the club anthem, he had no idea when he would next stand at Anfield and hear those voices again.
Ocho had already signed a new contract with Cardiff City.
Cardiff were willing to offer him six times his current weekly salary, and Liverpool had no intention of standing in his way.
Every Liverpool player stood behind Leo, facing the North Stand at Anfield.
The stadium announcer was shouting through a voice choked with tears.
"To every one of Anfield's most devoted supporters, Liverpool's 2020-2021 season has officially come to an end!"
"I can now confirm that after this season, our eternal Brazilian striker Firmino will leave Anfield and join a Saudi club on a free transfer!"
"Our captain Henderson will also join a Saudi club, officially bringing his Liverpool career to an end!"
"Our young center back Ocho will join Cardiff City after five years with Liverpool!"
"Our outstanding midfielder, the Brazilian defensive midfielder Fabinho, who has stepped up for this team countless times, will officially leave the club and join Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia!"
"And our young fullback Neco Williams will also leave Liverpool in search of more playing time!"
Leo's eyes reddened as he looked at Firmino crying and Henderson struggling to contain his grief.
He slowly took in everything around him.
It really felt as though only he and Salah remained from the team that had once won six trophies.
The lost Arnold could no longer hold down a starting place.
Robertson had only just been cleared to return from injury as the season ended.
Rodri was still working through his rehabilitation.
No one even knew when Van Dijk would be able to return.
Through Leo's tear-filled eyes, Liverpool's 2020-2021 season came to an end.
Several key members of the former six-title-winning squad departed, and Liverpool officially entered the summer transfer window in full rebuilding mode.
Liverpool's chairman put 260 million euros into the transfer market, determined to build a top-class squad around Leo that could compete for trophies again.
Over the next month, Liverpool announced the arrival of several highly promising players.
June 2021!
[Latest Transfer News: Young Uruguayan striker Núñez joins Liverpool for 86 million euros!]
[Liverpool announce the signing of young midfielder Szoboszlai for 60 million euros!]
[Young fullback Tsimikas arrives at Anfield for 7 million euros!]
July 2021!
[Brighton midfielder Mac Allister joins Liverpool for 20 million euros plus 8 million in add-ons. Mac Allister says he came to help Leo return to the top!]
[Liverpool sign young Dutch forward Gakpo for 32 million euros and Bayern's out-of-favor midfielder Gravenberch for 30 million euros!]
[A new generation of Liverpool players, built around Leo, has taken shape!]
Before the 2021-2022 season began, Van Dijk, Robertson, and the others returned from injury.
Rodri also completed his recovery.
Liverpool supporters were full of anticipation for this new-look squad.
Then came the opening three Premier League matches.
With too many players changed at once, Liverpool had almost no chemistry.
They collected only one point from their first three matches, leaving them sixth from bottom in the Premier League.
Then Leo suddenly suffered an injury in training and was expected to miss around six weeks.
Núñez repeatedly failed when aiming for the far corner, giving rival supporters another excuse to mock him.
Fans even started calling the angle where his shots kept flying wide the "Núñez Corner."
Arnold was still the same old "Route 66."
Mac Allister, forced to play as a defensive midfielder, had yet to adapt to the position.
Rodri was back from injury, but Klopp continued to carefully manage his playing time.
Gakpo frequently got tangled up while carrying the ball and was unable to provide Salah with any real support in attack.
All of this meant Liverpool often had to rely on Salah giving absolutely everything just to have a chance of winning.
After 15 league matches, Liverpool sat eighth in the Premier League.
The gap to the league leaders had already grown to twelve points.
They had reached the EFL Cup semifinals, but almost no one expected them to win the trophy.
The other three remaining teams were all in better form.
In the Champions League, Liverpool had only scraped through the group stage thanks to a late winner from Salah.
And because they finished second in their group, they were drawn against a powerful Inter Milan side that had already begun winning Serie A titles.
People couldn't help wondering.
Would Liverpool end another season without a single trophy?