Liverpool were right to wait on Mac Allister’s contract. His job now is to keep this up

If you talk the talk in football, you need to be able to walk the walk.

So after Alexis Mac Allister’s lively pre-match press conference against Atletico Madrid, which centred around no new contract being offered to him over the summer, he did his talking with his feet by scoring a spectacular winner in Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over the Spanish side.

The Argentina international was keen to stress during his media duties that he loves the club, and that came across in his celebration as he raced towards the Kop and his emotions poured out.

It was the 27-year-old’s third consecutive start under new head coach Andoni Iraola — he was a substitute for the first Premier League game against Newcastle. This was, at least partly, due to his delayed arrival to pre-season following his extended World Cup campaign.

He has played well in all three matches as the deepest member of Iraola’s midfield, adding a better balance to the side. Naturally, because of a lack of pre-season and the demands of the position, he has tired in the second half of games, but in each, his performance up until the hour mark has been encouraging.

But that doesn’t mean that Liverpool were wrong to take the stance they did in the summer regarding his contract, and neither should they be knocking on Mac Allister’s door tomorrow with a proposal.

Contract drama is nothing new at Anfield, especially in recent years. There have been high-profile situations involving Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate. Just when it looked like it might be quiet on that front until the situations involving Van Dijk and Alisson Becker — both are out of contract at the end of the season — ramp up, it took centre stage again.

Mac Allister, who confirmed he had options to leave in the recent transfer window, told reporters he was “very sad” that the club “was not in a position” to offer him a new contract. That came after his central midfield partners Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai had put pen to paper on new deals in March and July respectively. The trio were influential in Liverpool’s 2024-25 title success, so it’s not surprising that Mac Allister would be hurt to see the other two rewarded and not him.

Context is important, though, and it is very understandable why Liverpool were not willing to offer the midfielder a new contract after last season. Mac Allister was far from the only player to regress on the pitch, with Gravenberch among those who fell short of their own standards, but he suffered one of the bigger and more concerning drop-offs. Comparisons were made to former Liverpool midfielder Fabinho, who was a shadow of his former self during the 2022-23 campaign.

A number of factors played their part. The midfielder, along with the rest of his teammates, was processing the death of Diogo Jota. Mac Allister was close to the South American contingent — Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz — who departed and his pre-season was hampered by an injury. While he has frequently played down the impact of the injury, he never found form or consistency. Add in the ineffective pressing from those in front of him, leaving him with large spaces to cover, and the sheer number of minutes he had clocked up for club and country over a number of seasons, it all appeared to impact his performance.

Despite his struggles last season, former head coach Arne Slot continued to select him, underlining the influence he can have. Iraola’s arrival, and with it a more demanding role for his two central midfielders, raised questions about Mac Allister’s suitability, but in a small sample size, he has hit back at those doubts emphatically.

“Mac Allister is a smart player,” Iraola said during a post-match interview with Sky Sports following Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Ipswich Town. “He understands, very well, the positioning. He played really well today.”

Over the summer, Mac Allister played a key role in Argentina’s journey to the World Cup final. He looked much more like the player Liverpool fans watched in his first two seasons after arriving from Brighton & Hove Albion in 2023. He has carried that momentum into the new season, and while still a work in progress, has formed a good partnership with Szoboszlai.

“I love to play with Macca,” Szoboszlai told reporters after the victory over Atletico Madrid. “We know each other, without actually talking, when you look at someone and he knows what you want to do and I know exactly what he wants to do — I think that helps the team as well.”

New contracts are given out for a number of reasons. It is to reward a player for good form, often with increased terms that reflect their importance to the team. It is about retaining value so that they do not have to be sold for a cut-price fee or walk away for free.

It is also about what they are going to do next. The aim is for the player to maintain their current level, or ideally, continue to improve. Based on last season’s evidence, it would have been difficult for Liverpool to confidently predict that Mac Allister would shake off a poor season and return to his usual levels.

There is the long-term planning aspect to consider too. Gravenberch will be 29 at the end of his new deal. Szoboszlai will be 31. At the end of his current contract, Mac Allister will be 29. It is not quite the same situation as handing a 31-year-old Jordan Henderson a new four-year contract in 2021, but the last thing Liverpool would want to do is give a new contract to a player in decline.

Mac Allister’s form dipped off like Liverpool’s last season (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

The good news for both Mac Allister and Liverpool is that the early signs this season show a player looking more like himself. The gauntlet was effectively laid down by Liverpool in the summer with their lack of action — prove to us that you deserve a new deal.

From the club’s perspective, that is the right stance to take. Three good games and scoring the winner in a Champions League group game should not be enough to shift that outlook — remember Mac Allister scored the winner against Real Madrid in the league phase last season. But if this refreshed and rejuvenated version of the midfielder continues to perform, then it will force Liverpool to reconsider.

“Maybe they’ll change their minds (about a new contract),” Mac Allister said. “I think it is going to depend on how I perform during these years. I am not going to change. This has been a very successful period of my life. I don’t think I have to prove something, but of course I have to show the level I can perform.”