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Liverpool are in no hurry to enter contract negotiations with Alexis Mac Allister, the midfielder who has been branded their ‘best player’ since Andoni Iraola took charge, despite the Argentine’s frustrated public stance on the subject.
Mac Allister scored twice in Tuesday’s Champions League victory over Villarreal, but despite the 27-year-old reprising his best form at the beginning of the season, he finds his long-term future at Anfield in severe doubt.
The 2022 World Cup winner’s contract will expire in June 2028, and while that may seem a distant date, the box-to-box player is eager to tie his long-term future to Iraola’s side.
Liverpool have been far more reticent to commit themselves to talks, and according to The Telegraph, the Reds “are not in any rush to start talking about new contracts”, even with Mac Allister being branded their “best player”.
Alexis Mac Allister: Explaining Liverpool’s contract stance
Time is on Liverpool’s side, with no decision over a sale of Mac Allister required before summer 20227.
But while the midfielder has started the season promisingly, the memories of last season’s poor campaign linger. Even the player admitted that he was not up to scratch in an interview with Amazon Prime following the Villarreal clash.
“Last year was a really difficult year for all of us,” he told Amazon Prime. “It was clear I was not at the level and I am the first one to say. Something wasn’t right in the group and this manager changed it. The way we play is different, I don’t like to compare. I’m feeling good.”
Liverpool, meanwhile, harboured concerns over the numbers Mac Allister was putting up.
“My feeling is that Mac Allister could well depart Liverpool. And some of that is Liverpool being dispassionate and looking at data,” transfer expert Ben Jacobs told CaughtOffside in the summer.
Liverpool will have their own data models within the club, but analytics experts SciSports outline exactly the type of trend that have them spooked.
It claims there has been a ‘rapid decline’ in Mac Allister’s form over the course of the last six months using its SciSkill metric, which is drawn from hundreds of in-game data points.
There has been no immediate rush to sell him because he remains a top-10 Premier League midfielder – sixth equal with Ryan Gravenberch in SciSports’ analysis – but there are signs of a long-term decline.
Mac Allister seeking to change Liverpool minds after summer bombshell
Mac Allister now needs to prove that his recent upturn in form is more than a flash in the pan.
He has made it very clear that he wants to remain at Liverpool long term, explaining in September: “I received the news that the club was not in a position to renew my contract, which of course makes me very sad.
“I think everyone can see I give my 100 per cent for this club, every single day in training, I have good games, bad games. But I always give my best.
“I did not have any direct conversations with the club. They were with my agent.
“I don’t want to say things they never said, but Liverpool said they were not in the position to renew me.”
Expect Liverpool’s stance to change as the season develops if Mac Allister maintains his run of excellent form.
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