Liverpool boss Arne Slot with Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso.placeholder image
Liverpool boss Arne Slot with Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso. | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool face Real Madrid in the Champions League and Reds midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has been linked with a move to the Spanish giants.
Trent Alexander-Arnold will know that he’s in for a hostile reception when he makes his Anfield return. How else does he expect to be greeted?
Liverpool’s former vice-captain lived every fan’s dream: to represent his boyhood club. Yet in the pinnacle years of his career, he walked away in controversial circumstances.
Alexander-Arnold may have wanted a new challenge after winning every major trophy at the Reds. But he was prepared to walk away with Liverpool not earning a penny. Only the expanded Club World Cup meant that the Reds netted £10 million.
Had Liverpool banked a full reflection of Alexander-Arnold’s value, his exit might have been slightly more palatable. Instead, he chose to run his deal down. That is a footballer’s prerogative yet it is distasteful as a local lad. Kopites felt that Alexander-Arnold already represented the best club in the world who had won the Premier League title and were starting an exciting new era.
In truth, Real Madrid are a bigger club than Liverpool on a global scale, along with Barcelona. It is why the Reds have lost players to the Spanish giants in the past, including Xabi Alonso, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho.
But it is significantly more understandable when a foreign player, especially one from South America, wants to make the move. Michael Owen and Steve McManaman received similar backlash to Alexander-Arnold, but Liverpool were not among the European elite when they both departed for Madrid in 1999 and 2004 respectively.
Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho swapping Merseyside for Barcelona was fathomable. It would have been no surprise if Luis Diaz joined the Catalan side rather than eventually going to Bayern Munich last summer.
And with Alexis Mac Allister being linked with Real, it’s a potential exit down the line that is not exactly unrealistic. There is no doubt that Mac Allister is one of the best midfielders in the world at the peak of his powers. After all, he is a World Cup winner.
This season, the Argentina international has been well below his best, but that has been put down to an interrupted pre-season because of injury. In the 2-0 win over Aston Villa, Mac Allister delivered an outstanding performance.
He was key as Liverpool won the Premier League title last season and was named in the PFA Team of the Year. It was not just supporters who were impressed but his peers from the other 19 clubs.
Yet come the end of the campaign, Mac Allister will have two years left on his Anfield contract. As will Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai. Decisions will need to be made on deals and all three would rightly expect improved terms.
Liverpool may be reluctant to hand out a trio of bumper contracts. Mac Allister is the oldest of the triumvirate as he turns 27 next month. Szoboszlai has just turned 25, while Gravenberch is 24 in May.
Gravenberch has largely served in the No.6 position in Slot’s set-up. However, the Netherlands international has more of an attacking nature that he is having to resist somewhat. Goals against Everton and Villa suggest he could be even better playing in an advanced position. Szoboszlai, meanwhile, has been Liverpool’s best player this campaign and is slowly developing into a leader in the dressing room. He could genuinely be Virgil van Dijk’s successor as captain given his development.
As a result, Mac Allister could be the one who is allowed to depart if an agreement could not be reached. He may be the player most open to departing if Madrid came knocking. If that were the case, Liverpool would require a replacement. Sections of fans would like to see Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace arrive. But there could be someone at the Santiago Bernabeu who is a viable alternative.
If Mac Allister was added to the Real squad, Eduardo Camavinga could feel that his minutes would be limited. The France international has already found himself down the pecking order since Xabi Alonso took the Madrid hot seat. After recovering from an ankle problem, Camavinga has started just two of his nine appearances. The likes of Jude Bellingham, Aurelien Tchouameni and Arda Guler have been preferred so far.
In addition, Camavinga has roughly started half of Los Blancos’ games last campaign. With the World Cup approaching, the former Rennes man will be hoping that his lack of minutes do not impact his prospects of being included in Didier Deschamps’ set-up for the tournament. If he is omitted, that could be a potential decision-maker.
Liverpool’s current squad lacks an out-an-out defensive midfielder who is physical and dynamic. Wataru Endo is now aged 33 and he could well be on the move next year with 12 months left on his deal. Endo has persistently found himself out of favour since Slot took over the reins.
Camavinga meets the profile that Liverpool are missing. In his senior career, he has operated in a defensive midfield role on 110 occasions. He is also only about to turn 23 so his best years are well ahead of him.
Per Transfermrkt, Mac Allister is valued at £88 million. Camavinga’s suggested price tag is half of the former Brighton man.
Liverpool will hardly be pushing Mac Allister out of the exit door, but as seen with Diaz last summer, contract negotiations and players’ futures are not always straightforward. If
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