Mac Allister has no right to expect new Liverpool contract after ‘100%’ season

As the odd man out among Liverpool’s 2025 title-winning midfield, Alexis Mac Allister is “very, very sad” about not being handed a new contract at Anfield. Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai signed respective five and six year deals at the end of last season, while Mac Allister was thought by many to be making his final few appearances for the Reds.

Links with Real Madrid that had been around for a while were continuing on the basis of his poor performances under Arne Slot, rather than his outstanding displays in the preceding two seasons which had him being courted by Los Blancos.

A straw poll of Liverpool fans on the Argentina international’s future would have seen a majority either shrug their shoulders or urge the club to cash in while there remained some value in a footballer who appeared to have aged a decade in the space of a season. It was a wonder he managed to retain his place in the team for a lot of it.

“I see Dominik and Ryan renewing their contracts and that’s makes me very happy because they deserve it but at the same time it makes me a little bit sad I didn’t get mine,” Mac Allister said.

It’s not a primary school sports day. There’s no reward for participation as a Premier League footballer. Gravenberch and Szoboszlai were handed new contracts because – as Mac Allister himself notes – “they deserve it”. Mac Allister by contrast, did not. It’s that simple.

Few Liverpool fans will feel sorry for him. The result of his press conference is more likely to rile those wondering why – if he’s so upset – he didn’t take up one of the “options to leave in the summer”.

“I received the news that the club was not in a position to offer me a new contract, which of course makes me very, very sad,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“Everyone can see I give 100 percent for this football club, every single day in training, games.

“Of course, I can have very good games, bad games, like everyone, but I always give my best.”

The “100 percent” thing is odd. Firstly because him giving less than his maximum last season may have gone some way towards explaining his generally terrible performances. We all assumed he was crocked in some way; he made no mention of that.

But mainly because Mac Allister apparently believes he should be paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a week simply for trying his best. By that logic there are millions of Liverpool fans who could be playing alongside Gravenberch and Szoboszlai.

READ: Romano drops huge Mac Allister transfer update after Liverpool contract refusal

Legs gone forever?

Mac Allister’s problem is that by far his worst campaign was the most recent. He would fully deserve a new contract if such things were handed out based on average performance levels across a contract. He was genuinely brilliant in his first two seasons.

But the Liverpool decision-makers – like the rest of us – will have wondered last season and heading into the current campaign if Mac Allister’s lost legs were gone forever. The pace of the Premier League looked to have got to him. Leisurely La Liga was calling.

“Of course, there is still time,” Mac Allister added. Time to prove himself worthy, not to merely try his hardest and expect more money for doing an inferior job.