Liverpool have been heavily linked with Brighton and Hove Albion's Alexis Mac Allister, with the Reds looking to bolster their midfield this summer.
It's no secret that Liverpool are in the market for more than one midfielder in the upcoming transfer window, with midfield trio James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all departing the Reds in July. Jude Bellingham seemed the primary target for Liverpool for months until they were priced out of a move for the Englishman earlier this year, with the Reds now looking to sign multiple players rather than one.
Mac Allister seems to be at the top of the Reds' summer shortlist, with the Arsenal and Manchester United target reported to cost around £70m. The Argentine has had a fantastic season with Brighton, grabbing 10 goals in the Premier League and also helping Argentina win the World Cup.
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So, if the Reds were to sign Mac Allister in the summer, could he prove a good option for the Liverpool midfield? We simulated next season with Mac Allister in Jurgen Klopp's side to find out.
We 'signed' Alexis Mac Allister for Liverpool
To set up this simulation, we used Football Manager 2023 to arrange for Mac Allister to sign for Liverpool, linking up with the squad on July 1, 2023. We then simulated the 2023/24 season to see what sort of impact he could have.
On his arrival, Mac Allister was regularly used by Klopp, with the Argentine only missing three games through injury all season as he proved a reliable member of the squad. In his first season, the midfielder made 57 appearances across all competitions, with 39 of those starts.
In all those competitions, not only was Mac Allister an important box-to-box option, but his attacking input was fantastic, scoring 12 and assisting 11 from the middle of the park. His best competition was the Premier League, where the 24-year-old grabbed eight goals and seven assists in 33 games.
Mac Allister was also influential in the UEFA Champions League where he scored three and assisted one, with his other three assists coming in the Carabao Cup and one more goal coming in the FA Cup. Across all competitions, the midfielder averaged a 7.16 rating per game, the second-best out of the Liverpool midfielders.
Trent Alexander-Arnold continued to flourish in his new inverted right-back role, with the Englishman averaging the best rating per game out of all the midfielders (7.25) and also picking up the Player of the Match award four times. Fabinho rediscovered his best form with his average rating just behind Mac Allister (7.11), whilst Jordan Henderson, Curtis Jones, Thiago, Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic all averaged ratings below seven.
At the end of the 2023/24 season, Football Manager 23 put together an overall best Liverpool XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
Full Liverpool best XI: (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Konate, Robertson; Fabinho, Mac Allister, Thiago; Salah, Jota, Diaz.
Mac Allister made Liverpool's midfield three in the best XI from the 2023/24 season, with the Argentine joining Thiago and Fabinho as Henderson and Jones just missed out. After grabbing 20 goals, Diogo Jota beat Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo to the striker role, despite the absent duo scoring 18 and 21 respectively.
Liverpool's results with Mac Allister in the squad
With Mac Allister in the squad, Liverpool showed big improvement in the 2023/24 season, going head-to-head with Manchester City in a two-horse title battle. At the end of the season, the Reds ended on 92 points, but it wasn't enough to win the league, with City grabbing 95 points to lift the trophy.
City won the title with a few games remaining though, dropping points in three of their last five games as Liverpool made up some late ground. Mac Allister added goals from midfield, with the Reds ending the Premier League season as the league's top scorers.
Klopp's side finished 19 points ahead of Manchester United in third, showing how good they really were with Mac Allister in their side. Despite missing out on the title, they didn't end the season without silverware, with Liverpool winning both domestic cups for the second time in three years.
After going 2-0 down to Aston Villa in extra-time with 10 men, two goals in three minutes from Nunez took the FA Cup final to penalties where the Reds won 5-3 in the shootout. The Carabao Cup was more straightforward though, with goals from Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Jota securing a 3-1 win over Tottenham.
If Liverpool were to sign Mac Allister, Football Manager 2023 predicts that the Brighton man could be the perfect fit for Jurgen Klopp's squad, fitting in perfectly as the Reds just missed out on the Premier League whilst winning the domestic double. The Argentine hit double figures in both goals and assists whilst averaging one of the highest average ratings in the squad, proving he could be the perfect man to help the Reds return to their best
Would you like to see Liverpool sign Alexis Mac Allister? Let us know in the comments!
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