Alexis Mac Allister is understood to be nearing the completion of a switch to Liverpool Football Club if various reports are to be believed.
Indeed, according to the ever-reliable Fabrizio Romano, speaking to CaughtOffside, discussions are ‘advanced’, with the Merseysiders on course to announce their first potential signing of the summer window.
With that in mind, fans will no doubt be curious to look back on what Jurgen Klopp has said about the World Cup-winner ahead of the allegedly impending transfer.
“Against a well-drilled team like Brighton, if not all positions work really well together then all of a sudden… They only play for this one gap,” the German tactician was quoted as saying after a 2-1 defeat to Brighton by liverpoolfc.com. “They play for one gap where they pass the ball through and then whoever – Mac Allister or Gross, or Welbeck or Ferguson – turns and from there they go.”
Klopp went on to add: “Ibou plays now a lot; you can see in the situation, I think he could have won this challenge in the first place, but Mac Allister can get the ball down without a foul, if I am 100 per cent right.”
When subjected to more direct questioning over the 24-year-old and his future amid ongoing speculation of the Reds’ interest, the former Mainz boss has been less willing to open up.
“All others things, transfer-wise, you will be the first to be informed if something will happen,” the 55-year-old was quoted as saying by 90Min from a press conference earlier this month. “But before then, nothing really to say about it.”
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Is Alexis Mac Allister the missing piece of the puzzle for Liverpool?
Mac Allister’s durability alone should be considered a hugely attractive factor in this potential deal.
Naturally, availability has gone somewhat underappreciated at Liverpool up until the point of the current midfield crisis, with many a Red now appreciating Gini Wijnaldum’s seeming indestructibility like never before.
At a club that is expected to challenge on all four fronts – and get far in each respective competition – ability alone cannot be the solution, as Thiago Alcantara has proven to some degree.
That’s not to suggest Alexis Mac Allister is in any way lacking in that particular department, of course, with the Argentine sure to represent an astute purchase, if we get this one over the line.