The Athletic reporter Andy Jones has given a strong hint as to how Jurgen Klopp plans to utilise Alexis Mac Allister within Liverpool’s starting line-up next season.
The Argentina international became the Reds’ first signing of the summer transfer window when he completed his move from Brighton for a reported £35m (Fabrizio Romano).
In an article for The Athletic in which he assessed the composition of the current LFC squad and what they still need to add, the journalist dropped a clue as to the role that we can expect to see the 24-year-old occupying at Anfield.
Jones wrote: “The signing of Alexis Mac Allister offered Liverpool the perfect start to the summer rebuild and he is an excellent all-round midfielder. He is expected to be one of the starting No 10s immediately.
“His preference is likely to be the left-side, where he operated for Argentina, but two of his biggest assets are his tactical understanding and adaptability, and Klopp will have pre-season to mould him into the role he wants him to carry out.”
As Jones referenced in his article, Mac Allister demonstrated during his final season with Brighton that he’s capable of adapting to several different roles within the team.
As per Transfermarkt, he began the campaign as a defensive midfielder before gradually being deployed further up the pitch following Argentina’s World Cup triumph in December.
He played in a number 10 role from February through to mid-April and again in a couple of matches towards the end of the season, enjoying a run of three goals and an assist in a four-match sequence during the first few weeks of spring.
Having scored 12 goals in all competitions during 2022/23 – more than twice as many as Liverpool’s most prolific midfielder (Harvey Elliott with five), Mac Allister should certainly offer the Reds a substantially greater attacking threat from behind the forward line.
That, and the positional flexibility Jones mentioned, must be among the factors which enticed Klopp and LFC to bring him in, and if he can replicate the impact from his most recent campaign with the Seagulls in a red shirt in 2023/24, he’ll prove to be a masterstroke of an acquisition.