Andoni Iraola makes Alexis Mac Allister sale stance clear amid £85m transfer rumour

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Empire of the Kop

·22 juillet 2026

Andoni Iraola makes Alexis Mac Allister sale stance clear amid £85m transfer rumour

Andoni Iraola is opposed to the idea of Liverpool selling Alexis Mac Allister this summer.

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In comments relayed by Fabrizio Romano on X (formerly Twitter), the Basque head coach insisted he’s looking to bolster the Reds’ squad, as opposed to losing some key stars.

The Argentine international has recently been linked with a switch to Real Madrid.

Andoni Iraola doesn’t want Liverpool to sell Alexis Mac Allister

If reports are to be believed – and we would firmly suggest the opposite – the former World Cup winner was thought to have offered himself to Los Blancos.

However, Iraola’s comments would very much indicate that such reporting leans heavily toward the nonsensical, and that Liverpool are planning with Mac Allister in mind.

🚨🇦🇷 Andoni Iraola on Mac Allister’s future: “Alexis has been one of the best at this club in years, look at the World Cup, it's normal other clubs want the best players”. “Other clubs want my good players but I am looking to sign players than lose the ones we have here”.
– mercredi 22 juillet 2026

Mind, with an alleged £85m fee being mooted after a strong World Cup showing, we could understand why some around the club might be tempted to cash in on a player who struggled at L4 last term.

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But we suspect that the new boss will be far more inclined to ensure that Mac Allister works in a midfield that doesn’t leave the former Brighton star with an inordinate amount of work to do.

Ultimately, if we’re going to see far more of the player we enjoyed in our title-winning 2024/25 campaign, we’ll have no qualms about him staying at Anfield for another season.

Liverpool need to figure out the double pivot question

A far bigger priority for Liverpool Footbal Club to consider is fixing the work rate issue in the middle of the park.

Under Arne Slot, Ryan Gravenberch abandoned his deep-lying role of 2024/25 in favour of a more expansive remit higher up the pitch. Coupled with another forward-minded midfielder in Dominik Szoboszlai, and a less dynamic, energetic option in Alexis Mac Allister, Liverpool’s midfield was being frequently overrun.

This cannot be allowed to happen again. So, however Andoni Iraola decides to go about implementing his double pivot at Bournemouth in Merseyside, we need two options who are comfortable covering ground, cutting off passing lanes and aggressively winning the ball.

Perhaps we already have the ingredients to do this, given the trio of Mac Allister, Gravenberch and Szoboszlai played a crucial part in the club winning the title two seasons back.

But if there’s any doubt over any combination of this trio being able to competently fulfil what the manager needs from his pivot, we hope Liverpool intend to rectify the issue in the window.