When Manchester City chased down Liverpool for Raheem Sterling and got their quarry, it was a sure sign of how English football's balance of power had shifted.
Even as recently as eight years ago, such a sight would not come to pass as the Reds were much higher than their current mid-table predicament as an established member of the Premier League's Top 4 and a European power.
How things change though as City have taken their place in the Top 4 and Champions League regularity.
The Manchester club has poured vast sums into their £200 million Etihad Campus with the intention of producing their own talent, but the influence of Sheikh Mansour has been felt in the transfer market more so in these initial years of Abu Dhabi ownership.
As they take on Liverpool in the Capital One Cup, the other side features one of England's most potent strikers - well, when he is actually fit enough to play.
Birmingham native Daniel Sturridge arrived at City from as a 13-year-old from Coventry City, with his new club paying compensation.
A star in Man City's run to the FA Youth Cup final in 2006, he eventually made the break into the first team under Stuart Pearce in 2007, kickstarting a career that has taken him to Chelsea and more prolifically - again when fit - at Liverpool.
Manchester City's Stephen Ireland (left) celebrates scoring his sides second goal of the game with teammates Nedum Onuoha (center) and Shaun Wright-Phillips (right). All three are City academy grads (Picture by: Barry Coombs / EMPICS Sport)
But the striker is far from the only player that hit the big time after a spell in City's academy in the 2000s.
Shaun Wright-Phillips was the first to really make his mark much earlier. Albeit he only spent one season in the City youth ranks but was launched straight into the first team by the age of 18 in 1999.
But Micah Richards, whose career has admittedly stalled and has been in rapid decline in recent years, was also a key part of the team that reached the 2006 FA Youth Cup final, propelling an early adventure which took him straight into the City first team as a powerful full-back and centre-back and also winning full England honours by the age of 18.
Another, whose career never fulfilled its vast potentia,l but for different reasons, was midfielder Michael Johnson, who also played in the 2006 team.
He made his City first team debut that year before establishing himself during the 2007-08 and being tipped for a bright future by the likes of then team-mate Dietmar Hamann who deemed him "outstanding".
Unfortunately, a serious knee injury which was later followed by personal issues saw the football side of his career fizzle out.
And lest we forget, Stephen Ireland was brought through the City academy after he joined the club as a 15-year-old from League of Ireland Cobh Ramblers to initially good effect before he began to fade into irrelevance.
Between Ireland, Richards, Sturridge et al, it's a reminder of what City were able to produce without the type of cash they rely on now to sustain their first team.
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