Danny Murphy has admitted that he was ‘surprised to see’ Liverpool moving for Alexis Mac Allister but is hugely ‘excited’ to see how the Argentine fares at Anfield this season.
The 24-year-old was snapped up from Brighton for an initial £35m in early June (BBC Sport), with his acquisition giving the Reds a real fillip early in the summer transfer window.
The 2022 World Cup winner has been backed to become an immediate favourite among the Kop and a potential ‘talisman’ for Jurgen Klopp’s side in his first season at the club.
In his latest column for the Daily Mail, Murphy wrote of Mac Allister: “I was surprised to see Liverpool sign him because he’s not the usual Jurgen Klopp midfielder. He usually likes them strong and physical while Mac Alliser is diminutive and technical.
“I’m excited to see how Klopp uses him and his impact on the team because he’s a gifted player. It’s a change in approach but he could become a real talisman. The fans will adore him.”
While it may be from a small sample size, the indications from pre-season are that Mac Allister will indeed be an excellent fit at Liverpool.
He shone in the Reds’ win over Karlsruher a couple of weeks ago and was lauded by Graeme Souness as a ‘workaholic’ with ‘nothing to dislike about him’, while James Pearce noted in The Athletic how the 24-year-old is already integrating seamlessly to Klopp’s squad away from the football pitch.
The Argentina midfielder’s performances with Brighton last term suggest that he could become a ‘talisman’ at Anfield, as Murphy put it, with his tally of 10 Premier League goals the highest at the Amex Stadium (WhoScored) and proving pivotal to their excellent sixth-place finish.
No Liverpool midfielder scored more than three in the top flight in 2022/23 (WhoScored), so Mac Allister could vastly improve our attacking threat from behind the front three and may be regarded by some as a welcome change of tack from previous midfield recruits under Klopp.
We share Murphy’s excitement in seeing what the World Cup winner can produce for his new club in his first campaign at Anfield. It mightn’t be long before we look back at that initial £35m outlay as a genuine bargain.
#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones