Month: June 2023

Liverpool have begun the rebuild of their midfield with the signing of Brighton’s World Cup-winning Argentina international Alexis Mac Allister.

A fee has not been disclosed, but it is understood the 24-year-old had a release clause – believed to be around £45million – in a contract he only signed in October.

Mac Allister has been on the club’s radar prior to his move to the Seagulls in 2019, but the club felt his development was still in its early stages, although his versatility to play in several positions was a key factor in their interest.

He was subsequently identified as a key target prior to the winter World Cup in Qatar, in which he played a key part in Argentina’s victory, and Liverpool were keen to secure his services to avoid a bidding war.

Mac Allister’s age and his career appearances (160) fit in with the demographics of some of the club’s most successful signings like Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Roberto Firmino and represent the start of an overhaul of a midfield which lost James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at the end of their contracts.

“It feels amazing. It’s a dream come true, it’s amazing to be here and I can’t wait to get started,” Mac Allister told liverpoolfc.com.

“I wanted to be in (from) the first day of pre-season, so it’s good that everything is done. I’m looking forward to meeting my team-mates.

“It was a fantastic year for me – World Cup, what we achieved with Brighton – but now it’s time to think about Liverpool and try to be a better player and a better human being every day.

“Since I won the World Cup, I said that I want to win more trophies and I think that this club will help me to do that – that’s the aim and when you are in a big club like this one, you have to win trophies. So, that’s what I want.

“Since I arrived here, I can see how big this club is – the players we have, the staff, everyone.

“I’m really pleased and looking forward to playing for this club.”

Liverpool have bought back their former Melwood training ground for their women’s team to use.

The men’s first team vacated the site in West Derby in the city in November 2020 for a new build at their existing academy base in Kirkby.

Amid local protests, proposals were in place for the land to be turned into a modern, multi-generational housing complex by affordable housing group Torus but after the Robbie Fowler-Jamie Carragher academy moved in plans started to change, which has ultimately resulted in the club re-purchasing their former home.

As part of the move, the crest of the LFC Women’s team, which has previously trained at Tranmere’s base on the Wirral, will move to the official club crest to closer align the two operations.

“This is a truly historic moment for Liverpool Football Club and the continued desire of the LFC Women’s board to elevate and develop our women’s first team and category one professional game academy,” said Liverpool’s managing director Andy Hughes.

“We also have an opportunity to further develop the use of the site to support the local community by using it as an additional base for LFC Foundation.

“We are delighted that FEFA (Fowler Education and Football Academy) will continue to use the site for its college that provides sport and educational opportunities for young people.

“We have always taken the views of the local community seriously and we look forward to re-engaging with them in the near future.”

Torus will use the funds from the sale of Melwood to build much-needed homes across Merseyside.

Developments also continue apace at Anfield where the 282-tonne roof of the old Anfield Road stand has been removed to make way for the completion of the new stand which is due to open for the start of next season and expand the ground’s capacity to 61,000.

Argentina’s triumphant World Cup-winning squad were forced to complete their victory parade in Buenos Aires with a helicopter flyover after footage appeared to show a fan diving on to their open-top bus.

The streets of the capital were thronged by ecstatic supporters, with the homecoming of Lionel Messi and company having been declared a national holiday following their thrilling penalty shootout win over France in Qatar.

But the planned journey, reportedly set to take in 50 miles after departure from the Argentinian Football Association grounds, was halted before its end point on security advice.

While that could have had something to do with the vast number of people crowded into the Obelisk, one of Buenos Aires’ most famous monuments, video emerged on social media which seemed to capture a safety breach as a reveller lowered himself from an overpass and dropped on to the open deck occupied by players and staff.

One clip appeared to show a fan landing among the passengers, with a second attempting to follow suit only to fall backwards off the back of the bus and into the crowd.

A statement from AFA president Claudio Tapia indicated that the squad were upset not to continue their journey as intended, rather than spooked by events on the route.

“They do not let us arrive to greet all the people who were in the Obelisk, the same security agencies that escorted us do not allow us to move forward,” said Tapia.

“A thousand apologies on behalf of all the champion players. A pity.”