Tedious transfer sagas will make way for the fire and commitment of a local derby match for four of the Premier League’s leading lights on Sunday.
Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have had very different experiences over the past three months, but all will have reason to feel relieved when the transfer window finally closes on Monday.
Liverpool and United resume one of the fiercest rivalries in European football at Anfield, with both clubs hoping their battles to retain the services of unsettled strikers are at an end.
Both Luis Suarez and Wayne Rooney looked destined to leave their respective clubs a few weeks ago, but the two giants from the English northwest girded their loins and refused to yield to their demands.
Having briefly been forced to train with the Liverpool reserves, Suarez has now been reintegrated into the squad.