‘It Was More About’—Alexis Mac Allister Clarifies Shock Contract Revelation

The Liverpool midfielder seemed to throw his club under the bus when discussing the future.

Alexis Mac Allister has been told Liverpool aren’t intending to offer him a new contract. | David Horton/CameraSport/Getty Images

Alexis Mac Allister is backtracking. The midfielder said this week that recent admissions about his Liverpool contract situation were born out of his own “emotions” rather than bitterness towards the club for not offering fresh terms beyond the end of his current deal in 2028.

Mac Allister sat in front of reporters at a press conference before Liverpool’s opening Champions League match against Atlético Madrid earlier this month and revealed he feels a “little bit sad” after watching midfield colleagues Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai sign new long-term contracts so far this year, when “I didn’t get mine.” All three joined the club in 2023.

The 2022 World Cup winner revealed his agent was informed during talks that the club is “not in a position to renew.” He said he’d turned down the option to leave Anfield during the recent summer transfer window and it all felt a bit like Mac Allister was trying to put Liverpool under pressure by speaking about everything so openly. That worked for Mohamed Salah in 2025.

Two weeks on, Mac Allister has traveled home to Argentina to report for national team camp and reporters caught up with him as soon as he landed, outside the airport. He insisted his words were not about “judging” the club for the contract decision up to this point.

“In that press conference, because they were asking me a bit about my future, it just came from within,” he admitted. “It was more about my emotions than judging the club or anything like that. In the end, they’re the ones who handle these things and make the decisions. That’s fine with me.”

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‘Hopefully’—Mac Allister Reveals What He Wants From Liverpool

Mac Allister was in a room full of reporters when he made his original comments early in September. | Paul ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images

The situation isn’t any different. Mac Allister remains a Liverpool player under contract—he’d previously said he’d “give 100% for [Liverpool] ... until the last day I’m here”—for this season and next. He still wants to sign a new contract but appears to have made peace with his career potentially entering a new chapter sooner rather than later.

“Hopefully it’ll be for more years,” he said of his time at Liverpool. “But if it’s two, that’s absolutely fine. I’ll enjoy it, enjoy it with my family, because I have no doubt it’s one of the best clubs in the world.”

From Liverpool’s perspective, handing Mac Allister a new contract makes far less financial sense than it did for Gravenberch or Szoboszlai. Both have moved among the squad’s highest-paid players as a result of their raises, but neither will yet be 30 in four years’ time when approaching the final season of those respective contracts. It means, in an era defined by player trading to better navigate spending regulations, there could still be resale value.

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Why Selling Mac Allister in 2027 Is Best for Liverpool

Dominik Szoboszlai is younger and potentially has future resale value. | Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images

Mac Allister turns 30 in December 2028 and so a long-term extension would ultimately only see his value fall. The Argentine’s performances last season, in contrast to Salah having one of the all-time great individual years when he was angling for a new contract in 2024–25, doesn’t warrant the kind of financial remuneration Gravenberch and Szoboszlai are getting.

Liverpool don’t want to get burned handing out the opportunity to simply coast to retirement. They already watched Salah’s form fall off a cliff after signing a contract that made him the highest-paid player in the club’s history, parting ways just 12 months later.

If Liverpool are set against extending Mac Allister—although there remains time to reconsider—the best option is to sell next summer. Real Madrid are still desperate for a deep-lying passing midfielder and have been credited with interest before. Paris Saint-Germain might consider him a potential replacement for Fabián Ruiz, who turns 31 this season.

Staying within the Premier League is also still potentially viable. Manchester City no longer have a need for a new midfielder after spending massively to recruit Elliot Anderson, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernández this past summer.

But Chelsea still do, after losing Fernández to City and not replacing him because Monaco canceled a deal for Lamine Camara that is now feels unlikely to be resurrected. Ironically, Liverpool are now heavily linked with the emerging Senegal international, which could be their way of replacing Mac Allister with a younger model.

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