If 2024 included the final chapter of Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool, the year may yet be recalled as the start of something else special. It was on 26 January that devastated fans learned one of the best-kept football secrets of modern times, that Klopp could give no more. In late December, a renewed team, more patient in style, far less exuberant yet just as potent, already threatens to emulate Klopp’s finest achievements.

The bond between Klopp and former players remains firm. When Curtis Jones made his 100th Premier League appearance against Leicester on Boxing Day, he realised only because his former manager had congratulated him on the milestone. When Klopp returns to public life next week as head of global football for the Red Bull conglomerate, the sight of him in the stands, talking to the media, will take some getting used to.

Sugaring the pill of separation are the achievements of the strong, vibrant squad Klopp left behind. Arne Slot inherited a group with residual hunger, has added his own specifications, smoothed off the rougher edges and is thus far excelling where so many other clubs have faltered in succession planning. Liverpool top the Premier League and the Champions League mega-table.

Should Slot lead Liverpool to the Premier League title, he will surpass even Bob Paisley’s swift regeneration of Bill Shankly’s team half a century back. Who can stop them? Manchester City may already be broken, Arsenal and Chelsea are left with little margin for error. All when Slot was handed only one senior signing in the forgotten Italian Federico Chiesa.

A bystander for two months of injury and now restored as Slot’s No 1 goalkeeper, Alisson admits such runaway success has come as something of a surprise. “I think if at the beginning of the season we looked to this point now and are told the numbers, the amount of points that we have, the place we are, we would sign it off immediately,” says the Brazilian. “I think when Arne joined the club, everybody thought it would be hard work for him to replace a manager like Jürgen. But he’s showing his qualities and he brings us a lot of good things.”

The treatment of Alisson is evidence of Slot’s blend of diplomacy, single-mindedness and a willingness to make full use of his squad. When Alisson pulled up lame at Crystal Palace in October, Slot was happy to field Caoimhín Kelleher – “almost in every position we have a second option” – but never wavered, even when the Irishman was performing superbly. Alisson was restored on his return to full fitness. “I was looking forward to coming back, even because the team was doing so well, so you get even more excited to be part of it,” he says.

Unlike his manager, who despite a confident exterior has repeated it is too early for title talk, Alisson will not deny what Liverpool’s priority has become. “It’s our goal, it’s our target,” he says. “At this point, we cannot just start to look to the points and see how it goes. We have to really focus on the next opponent that we have in front of us. That’s the mentality that we need and are having at the moment. We know how the Premier League can change so quickly in two games.”

That the modern Liverpool have been disappointed as title contenders many times over, including last season, tempers Alisson’s words. “The bad moments, I think they will teach a lot. So, yes, we can take a lot of lessons from last season. But we are in a different moment now as well. You can see that all players are fully committed, everybody’s fit, we have a few players injured, but everybody who is able to play, who is not injured, is really fit, is really well, is really in a good shape.”

The last time Liverpool were in such a good position was the one season under Klopp they wrested the Premier League from Manchester City, five years ago, 2019-20. Covid cut into a celebration already a fait accompli by the time the lockdowns came. “I don’t think it’s too similar, [it’s] two different teams,” says Alisson. “A few players still play in the team but we have a little bit different style now, more ball possession, before it was really straightforward: a lot of transition, a lot of intensity. We achieved the Champions League together as well, the season before. I think there’s no comparison with both situations.”

Instead there is a sense of renewal, that Klopp’s departure, a wrench as it continues to be, need not be a barrier to future success. Change can be positive. Alisson, one of the club’s most experienced senior players, speaks freely, enthusiastically of the new Liverpool. “I want to highlight the commitment of this team, of the players, to do what the manager asks, to go every day and train hard and have the desire to improve as well, to be a better team and the desire of winning big things for this club.

“I think it’s different players, different managers, a lot of more different things than similarities. I believe we don’t have to compare ourselves with the teams in the past, we have to create our own history. This season, this group has to create its own history. We’re not going to erase the things we did in the past that were really special and will always be in the history of this club.”