Liverpool star back on top of Real Madrid list after Fernandez statement; Mourinho eyes two more deals | OneFootball

Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has moved back to the top of Real Madrid’s shortlist of midfielders this summer, according to reports.

The Reds have already lost Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate on free transfers to Tottenham and Real Madrid respectively, while Mohamed Salah has also been released to find another club amid rumours teams in Saudi Arabia and the USA want him.

Liverpool will be wary of losing another of their first-team players from last season as they look to bounce back from a disappointing season under Arne Slot, who was sacked and replaced by Andoni Iraola.

One player who could be in-demand before the end of the transfer window is Argentina international Mac Allister, who is currently on World Cup duty.

The Liverpool midfielder has attracted interest from Real Madrid before and now journalist Sergio Valentin has claimed on Ruben Martin’s YouTube channel that Jose Mourinho has made Mac Allister their top target if Eduardo Camavinga or Aurelien Tchouameni are sold.

Valentin said (via Defensa Central): “If there are any major departures, the name Real Madrid likes for the midfield position is Alexis Mac Allister. For the centre-back position, the two options the club is considering are Bastoni and Araújo. José Mourinho is fine with either of them.

Real Madrid came out in a statement last week to deny they had any interest in signing Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who was constantly linked to the La Liga giants.

Former Liverpool midfielder Paul Ince insists he thought Mac Allister and fellow Reds midfielder Gravenberch “were poor” as he picked out the issues at Anfield last season.

Ince told BestBettingSites: “When you manage Liverpool, the fans always have an expectation, just like when you’re at Manchester United. I looked at Liverpool last season and I just thought it wasn’t right. There were a lot of issues there. Obviously, the Mohamed Salah stuff with Arne Slot wasn’t great for the club. It’s very rare that you see that kind of friction come out publicly from Liverpool Football Club; you usually see that stuff come out of other clubs.

“Also, you very rarely hear Liverpool fans boo. Never – that’s not the Liverpool way. When the fans start doing that, you kind of think, ‘Right, something is not right here, there’s a deep issue.’

“When I talk about great players, I talk about Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, or Mark Hughes. These are great players because they performed at the top level week in, week out and year in, year out in the Premier League. That’s a great player – not someone who just does it for one season.

“Under Slot in his first season, the likes of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister were absolutely fantastic, outstanding. But last season, I thought they were poor.

“Virgil van Dijk wasn’t at his absolute best, Ibrahima Konaté wasn’t at his best, and you obviously lost Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid. On top of that, Salah wasn’t at his peak. So you can see why they weren’t performing well. Alexander Isak got injured straight away, came back and scored against Tottenham, but then got injured for the rest of the season.

“If you go through that squad, Federico Chiesa hasn’t been the signing we thought he would be at this moment. Hugo Ekitike has been out for three months. So you can see exactly why they struggled last year, and that’s not even mentioning the impact that Diogo Jota’s death would have had on the club.

“There is a massive revamp to do at Liverpool. A big revamp.

“Even with Curtis Jones now being linked to Inter Milan – to be a truly great player, you have to perform year in and year out. We use that word “great” too easily and too flippantly now. To earn that, you have to sustain it.

“So it’ll be interesting to see who Iraola brings in. People are talking about Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig for £90 million or something like that. Honestly, I watched him the other day and I think, yeah, he’s got some nice attributes, but he’s a bit of a fizzy drink – he just pops up here and there. For £90 million, I’m thinking, ‘Jesus Christ.’

“Especially when you’ve got the young lad Rio Ngumoha at Liverpool, who is only 16 or 17 and plays on that left-hand side. Why do we need to go and spend that money on someone who is only two years older than him?

“I’m interested to see how they do. I certainly don’t expect them to win the title this year, that’s for sure, but it will be interesting to see what acquisitions Iraola brings in to make them better, because they need a much better season.”