Alexis Mac Allister has been tipped to become the new Argentina number 10 following Lionel Messi's international retirement
Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool speaks to the media during the press conference on day ahead of the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 at Anfield
Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool speaks to the media during the press conference on day ahead of the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 at Anfield(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
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Alexis Mac Allister could be about to be handed a new squad number. The Liverpool midfielder has worn the number 10 for the entirety of his time in England, both with Brighton & Hove Albion and with the Reds.
He also wore it back in his homeland during his time with Argentinos Juniors, with a loan move to Boca Juniors the only exception throughout his club career that the 27-year-old wore number eight.
Meanwhile, he also wore it for Argentina at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. But, understandably, he has never donned the jersey for La Albiceleste during his senior international career.
After all, in Lionel Messi, there was the biggest of hurdles facing the Liverpool star - not that he minded.
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When Messi was sidelined back in September 2024 through injury, Mac Allister made it abundantly clear that he did not believe anyone should be allocated the number 10 shirt in his captain’s absence.
“Take care of her (Messi’s 10)?” he queried. “No! The number 10 is Messi’s and no one else’s.”
Unfortunately for Argentina, leaving the number 10 unallocated for competitive matches goes against FIFA rules. Paulo Dybala ‘borrowed’ it for their World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia on that occasion, with Angel Correa and Franco Mastantuono later donning it when Messi was absent in World Cup qualification.
In international friendlies when the forward has been absent, the jersey has just been left untouched.
But after Messi’s international career came to a close with a 3-0 victory over Benin in a farewell match in Buenos Aires on Tuesday night, a game in which the legendary forward scored and claimed two assists, Argentina will now need to name a permanent successor as their number 10.
Argentina's forward #10 Lionel Messi cries in a tribute after the international friendly football match between Argentina and Benin at the Mas Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires on October 6, 2026. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO / AFP via Getty Images)
Lionel Messi was in tears after his final match in the number 10 shirt of Argentina (Image: Luis ROBAYO / AFP via Getty Images)
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They had wanted to retire the shirt. They also wanted to do the same in honour of Diego Maradona back in 2002, only to be blocked by FIFA rules.
With such bureaucracy still standing in the way of such a tribute, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni previously revealed that they are yet to decide who should be their new number 10 and that a decision would not be made until the November international break.
"We aren't obligated to assign it for these matches, so we won't give it to anyone until Leo's farewell game,” he explained. “The idea is for someone to eventually take it on, given how special it is to wear. We just haven't decided who yet.”
There have been calls in Argentina for Mac Allister to be Messi’s successor, despite the player’s own father, Carlos, instead suggesting it should be shared around.
Following Messi’s international farewell, TyC Sports’ Ernesto Provitillo doubled down on his insistence that the Liverpool midfielder should be his country’s next number 10.
“Just as we previously noted that certain players helped Messi on the national team, it was undoubtedly a two-way street: Mac Allister’s career was certainly elevated by his proximity to Messi and the partnership they forged on the pitch,” he wrote after Argentina’s win over Benin.
“To the point where - and this is my personal view - I believe the number 10 shirt should be inherited by the Liverpool player, who played a pivotal role in that unforgettable second goal against France in the final.”
He has said the same after Argentina’s victory over Bolivia last month, writing: “The heart of the team, always well-positioned, always an option, always ready to create. A modern midfielder, constantly moving up and down the pitch, carrying the ball back and forth, participating and creating opportunities.
“In my opinion, he's the right man to wear the number 10 in the near future, just like he does at Liverpool.”
Unlike in Argentina, for whom he wears number 20, the number 10 shirt is synonymous with Mac Allister back in England. Yet despite how much the number means in his homeland, thanks to Maradona and Messi, the midfielder inherited it almost by accident. And was rather humble about first being allocated it at Brighton.
It was simply vacant, following the temporary departure of Florin Andone, when he linked up with the club in January 2020 after Brighton had cut short his loan move to Boca Juniors.
“The number 10 is important in Argentina and the world, so it’s nice to wear it,” Mac Allister told The Athletic back in 2022. “When I play, I don’t see my number, so it doesn’t bother me.”
It was a similar story when he signed for Liverpool from Brighton in a £35m switch in the summer of 2023, after the number had been left vacant following Sadio Mane’s move to Bayern Munich the year before.
“I know how important number 10 is in football,” Mac Allister told LFC TV after joining the Reds. “I had the possibility to take the number 8 as well, which is a big number for this club because of Gerrard of course.
“But I decided for number 10 because I used it a lot of times in Argentina, in Brighton, the Under-23s national team as well. It’s a number I really like and that’s why I chose it.”
Alexis Mac Allister is unveiled as a Liverpool signing
Alexis Mac Allister opted to take the vacant no.10 jersey when his Liverpool signing was announced (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, he’d later reveal how much it meant to him when speaking to Latin American sports channel DSports Radio, saying: "Wearing the Liverpool number 10 is huge. It means a huge responsibility, both on and off the pitch.
“Number 10 is definitely a responsibility, but I take it in my stride. When you're playing, you're not constantly looking at your number, but in general I want to enjoy playing football: and I really enjoy it."
There had been claims he would lose the number at Liverpool though following the arrival of Florian Wirtz, with reports in the German’s homeland insisting he was demanding the number 10 jersey.
Wirtz would emphatically dismiss such claims on social media, before the pair later mocked such reports.
“Who says I want the [ten emoji] I respect players,” Wirtz posted on Instagram at the time. “Don't believe everything what's written [clown emoji].”
Wirtz and Mac Allister wouldt hen both take part in an advert for the Google Pixel 10 phone, offering a tongue-in-cheek response to such claims when promoting one of Liverpool’s sponsors back in August 2025.
“I know there’s been some rumours about Flo wanting the number 10,” Mac Allister said into a Google Pixel 10 phone before walking up to Wirtz at the AXA Training Centre. “But I want to tell you all the truth.
“Flo! This is the number 10 you wanted, right? Google Pixel 10.”
“Thank you, Macca. Nice one!” the German replied after being handed the phone, before the pair then posed for a selfie.
Having missed out on Wirtz to Liverpool, bitter Bayern Munich bosses have more than one bizarrely suggested that the Reds misled the German with the promise of the number 10 shirt with that playing a part in their successful pursuit at the Bavarians’ expense.
Admittedly, the Liverpool number 10 shirt could become vacant again in the not-too-distant future. Mac Allister is out of contract at Anfield in 2028 and has already spoken publicly about his ‘sadness’ at the offer of a new deal not being forthcoming.
He has responded in style on the pitch at least, rediscovering his best form under new head coach Andoni Iraola to force his way into the Basque’s first-choice starting XI.
It remains to be seen if he will do enough to earn a new deal, the same as only time will tell if he is to inherit Messi’s Argentina number 10 shirt.
But his mportance for club and country is clear regardless of whatever digits he wears on his back.
After all, Mac Allister perhaps said it best during his time at Brighton back in 2022 while acknowledging the extra meaning the number 10 holds both in Argentina and in football: “It’s nice to wear it (but) when I play, I don’t see my number, so it doesn’t bother me.”
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