For the value of these locally-raised players has never been demonstrated more vividly than this summer when it seems that anyone has their price, and that any amount of loyalty can be bought out by the hefty cheques on offer from the bank accounts of the super-rich indulging their latest fantasies whether in Madrid or Manchester.

While it can be tempting to shop abroad for the talent to bring success in the modern Premier League, the danger is that progress can be built on sand which can blow away at any minute.

Liverpool may be about to experience this at first hand if, apparently on the cusp of realising our longstanding aim of regaining the league title, our team is decimated by the departures of Alonso and Mascherano.

The truth is that, for all their professed love of the English game and the fanatical following of the fans, the hearts of foreign players can never be truly vested in an English club, and they will always be susceptible to the lure of home and seemingly more attractive propositions in other countries.

So the inbred loyalty of a Carragher or a Gerrard, though occasionally tested, will always be a more firm foundation for sustained success.

Spearing and Darby might just be the concrete to support our next building project.