Liverpool's Summer Strategy: Keeping Alexis Mac Allister

Andoni Iraola knows exactly what he wants this summer – and what he cannot afford to lose.

At the heart of it all sits Alexis Mac Allister, a World Cup winner with two years left on his Liverpool deal and a name that keeps circling around Madrid. The noise is growing, but Iraola’s message is blunt: this is one of Liverpool’s pillars, not a bargaining chip.

“I think Alexis has been one of the best players of the club last year and has done a very good World Cup,” the Liverpool manager said, underlining just how central the Argentine has become on Merseyside. Big clubs circle big players. Iraola accepts that. He just has no intention of becoming a selling story.

“It is normal that other clubs want our best players, our good players, it always happens in other markets. But I want to, also as other clubs want, I want to keep my good players. Probably I'm looking forward more to signing new players than the ones we have here.”

Mac Allister will rejoin the squad after a much-needed break following his run to the World Cup final with Argentina. His return will drop straight into a club in transition.

Holes to fill after heavyweight exits

Iraola did not hide from the scale of the rebuild. Liverpool have lost Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konaté in one summer, three names that defined the spine and edges of the side. Take them out and the gaps are obvious.

So is the priority. A new winger sits right at the top of the recruitment list.

“I think it is difficult to say a number. When the market is open, you have to be always open to new options to improve the squad,” Iraola said, before cutting straight to the main issue. “There are obvious situations where we need to sign players. Winger for example, we definitely need to sign a winger, but there are other situations where we will have to analyse what the market gives you, what is the cost, how we also see the players we have.”

The message is clear: Liverpool will not chase bodies for the sake of it, but the flanks need reinforcing, and quickly.

Injuries, calculations and a moving target

Behind the headline needs, Iraola is juggling something more delicate. Several players he trusts remain sidelined, and their recovery timelines are shaping his transfer strategy.

“We have some tricky positions where we have injured players that we trust, but it is still not the ideal situation, so it will depend on a lot of things,” he explained.

Those “tricky positions” force Liverpool into a constant calculation. Push hard in the market now, or gamble on key players returning in time to carry the load? Each training update has the potential to shift the plan.

American tour, new faces, and a waiting game for Mac Allister

All of this plays out with Liverpool stationed in the United States on their Premier League pre-season tour. For Iraola, this is more than a commercial trip. It is his laboratory.

On American soil he will bed in new signings Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz, stress-test his ideas, and run the rule over a group of youngsters desperate to prove they belong. Sunderland, Leeds United and Wrexham await on the schedule, fixtures that will reveal who can handle his demands and who may need a loan or a move.

The tour also offers a live audit of the squad’s technical level before any late-window decisions. Performances here can nudge a deal over the line or convince the club to hold fire.

One major piece is still missing from the picture. It remains unclear exactly when Mac Allister will step back into the fold, when the World Cup finalist will pull on a Liverpool training top again and start tuning himself for another season.

When he does, Iraola will hope he’s not welcoming back a player preparing for Madrid, but a midfielder ready to anchor the next version of Liverpool.