You could not script it. You really could not.
Mohamed Salah, cast into exile just days ago, returns from the wilderness and promptly breaks Wayne Rooney's all-time Premier League record. This club never does things the easy way.
The Egyptian King came off the bench against Brighton on Saturday and assisted Hugo Ekitike's second goal in a comfortable 2-0 victory. That assist took Salah to 277 goal involvements for Liverpool in the Premier League - surpassing Rooney's 276 for Manchester United.
No player in Premier League history has contributed more goals and assists for a single club. Let that sink in for a moment.
The reconciliation
A week ago, this seemed impossible. Salah had gone nuclear after the Leeds game, claiming he had been "thrown under the bus" and that his relationship with Arne Slot had broken down completely.
The fallout was brutal. Slot dropped Salah from the Inter Milan squad entirely, telling the forward in what was described as a "short" conversation that he was not welcome on the plane to Italy.
Liverpool's dressing room was in turmoil. Virgil van Dijk refused to take sides. Jamie Carragher was labelled a "disgrace" for his comments on the situation. The whole thing was an absolute circus.
Then came Friday's crunch talks at the AXA Training Centre. Slot and Salah sat down, cleared the air, and somehow found a way forward.
"I am definitely not enjoying this situation," Slot admitted before the meeting. "The biggest factor is to do the best for the team and for the club."
Whatever was said behind closed doors, it worked. Salah was back in the squad for Brighton. Peace, at least temporarily, had been restored.
The performance
Salah was not supposed to start against Brighton. He was on the bench, waiting, when Joe Gomez went down injured after 26 minutes.
On came the Egyptian. And suddenly, Liverpool looked like Liverpool again.
There was a freedom to Salah's play that has been absent this season. He was selfless, creative, dangerous. The corner that led to Ekitike's goal was perfectly delivered - the kind of quality we have come to expect from a player of his calibre.
The Anfield crowd sang his name all afternoon. Whatever had happened in the previous week, they had not forgotten what Salah means to this club.
He stayed on the pitch after the final whistle, applauding the fans, soaking it all in. This was his last game before departing for the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt. Was it also his last game for Liverpool?
Slot's verdict
The Liverpool boss was asked directly whether Saturday was Salah's farewell.
"He wasn't the only player who walked around the pitch thanking the fans because the fans deserved a thank you from us."
Classic Slot. Deflecting, downplaying, refusing to give the headlines they wanted.
More significantly, the Dutchman insisted there is now "no issue to resolve" between himself and Salah. The war is over. The hatchet has been buried.
Whether it stays buried is another question entirely.
The bigger picture
Salah will now be away for potentially eight games while he represents Egypt at AFCON. That is a lot of time for tensions to simmer down - or to build back up again.
The Saudi Pro League remains interested. Very interested. A Public Investment Fund source told AFP this week that they "follow Salah's position thoroughly" and believe a move could happen "either on loan or through a permanent transfer."
Salah himself has hinted that his Liverpool chapter may be drawing to a close. He does not know "what will happen" while he is away. That uncertainty hangs over everything.
But for one afternoon at Anfield, none of that mattered. Salah was back. Salah was brilliant. And Salah made history.
277 goal involvements. The most ever for a single club in Premier League history. Whatever happens next, nobody can take that away from him.
The Egyptian King may be leaving for Africa. But his legend at Liverpool is already secure.
