If Alexis Mac Allister wants a new contract at Liverpool, he’s got to earn it

When the giants from the Spanish capital visit Anfield, Alexis Mac Allister has a habit of commanding attention. In 2024, Real Madrid arrived and departed beaten, with Mac Allister scoring. In 2025, the same happened. And in 2026, as Atletico Madrid prepared to kick off their Champions League campaign, Mac Allister delivered another dramatic intervention. This one did not involve angling a shot or planting a header past Thibaut Courtois.

Mac Allister implied he could have been lining up at Anfield on Wednesday in the colours of Atletico. “There were options to leave this summer,” he said. There may have been more reason to go with the message from Liverpool. “I received the news that the club was not in a position to offer me a new contract, which of course makes me very, very sad,” he said.

It made Mac Allister the odd man out among the 2025 title-winning midfield. Ryan Gravenberch signed a six-year deal in March. Dominik Szoboszlai agreed a five-year deal in July. Mac Allister was arguably the best of the trio in Jurgen Klopp’s final season, after each joined in 2023. He was excellent in Arne Slot’s title-winning team the following year.

He noted the difference. “I see Dominik and Ryan renewing their contracts and that’s makes me very happy because they deserve it but at the same time it makes me a little bit sad I didn’t get mine. Of course, there is still time.”

Time, perhaps, to change Liverpool’s minds. Mac Allister’s current deal expires in 2028. He will, though, soon be entering the frame when his transfer value deteriorates and other clubs may start making overtures. Liverpool have lost a series of players on free transfers in recent years and sold others for cut-price fees when their contracts were nearing the end. One interpretation is that the former director of football Richard Hughes has left his successor with another problem.

Another is to argue that, impressive as Mac Allister was in his first two seasons after his £35m move from Brighton, his form last year scarcely merited a new deal. He will be 29 at the end of his current contract. Never blessed with pace, there is the question if he is slowing down as the game is getting quicker, making him a man out of time. If he did not leave in the summer, perhaps it was because the calibre of club he may have wanted to join did not provide a suitable offer.

The World Cup was a reason why Mac Allister started the season on the bench, but with new head coach Andoni Iraola’s use of Florian Wirtz as a No 10 meaning there is only room for two central midfielders, it could have seemed an insight into his thinking.

What can be said is that Liverpool already possess one of the biggest wage bills in world football. They have committed around £650m to signings in the last 15 months. A club who often describe themselves as self-sustaining may have decided their money only goes so far.

Mac Allister has not had a full explanation. “What I got from my agent was that they were not in the position to renew me. It’s really sad because we won the Premier League together, we went through difficult times as well together and I always give my best,” he said. At the same time, there was a recognition he was not at his best last year. “I take responsibility because it was not a good season for me individually and for as a team,” the World Cup winner added.

Nor was it for quite a few others. Now two of last season’s underachievers gone, in Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konate; Liverpool did not meet the Frenchman’s contract demands. Perhaps committing to Mac Allister for the long term now may have seemed a reward for recent failure.

Mac Allister’s sadness did not prevent him from hinting that he understood Liverpool’s reluctance to give him a deal. “Maybe, it is going to depend on how I perform during these years, like every football player, and they are right to make the decision,” he said.

For now, it may seem Liverpool are in the stronger negotiating position. Mac Allister wants to stay. “I don’t think I have to prove something but I have to show the level I can perform and hopefully that is the case,” he added. “I love this club, I love being here, I love the fans, and as a player it sometimes happens you are in a club for a long time and you don’t really realise where you are. That doesn’t happen to me, I know very well this is an amazing club.”

If he has to persuade his employers, he might have made the right kind of start with Iraola. Mac Allister had a fine World Cup as Argentina reached another final. He came into the Liverpool side for Gravenberch after the draw at Newcastle.

“The important thing for me is he wants to continue here in the footballing side,” said Iraola. “I think very highly [of him] and definitely there is still a lot of time to talk about those contract situations.” But the surprise was how much Mac Allister said and what it revealed.