Liverpool transfer got green light after boss' secret meeting left target with no choice

Alexis Mac Allister spoke with Jurgen Klopp in a top-secret "James Bond-like" meeting before deciding to join Liverpool. Mac Allisterrecalled feeling “shocked” by Klopp’s efforts to sign him, with the German travelling halfway from Liverpool to Brighton to meet him.

Mac Allister, who joined the south-coast side in 2019, was loaned back to Argentina for two seasons before playing a bigger role at the Amex from the 2020/21 season onwards. He became a key first-team player, before the 2022 Qatar World Cup shot him to fame.

The 26-year-old’s performances drew attention from several big clubs as he returned to England as a world champion. Shortly after, Liverpool were in pursuit of the former Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors sensation.

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They eventually snapped him up in the summer of 2023 for an initial £35million, potentially rising to £55m. The Argentine international has now revealed how the transfer unfolded, with then-Reds boss Klopp going the extra mile to secure his signature in an effort to revamp his ageing midfield.

Writing in The Players’ Tribune, Mac Allister recently said: “At the end of that season, Jurgen Klopp came to see me. Actually, it was a bit of a James Bond situation. He flew down and we met in secret somewhere halfway to Brighton.

“I was a bit shocked that he did that for me. I had won a World Cup, but I was not a star at all. We had a coffee, and he explained to me that he really wanted me to come to Liverpool, because I reminded him a bit of Ilkay Gundogan, who he developed at Dortmund into one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world.

“It’s so funny, because when I was young, my dad would always be screaming at me from the stands, ‘Ale, to the box! To the box!’ Every time our team crossed the halfway line, ‘To the box! To the box!’ I don’t know, I suppose he saw in me the same thing that Jurgen saw, ‘Don’t be cute! Box to box!’”

He went on to add: “From that moment I spoke to Jurgen, I knew I was meant to come to Liverpool. It wasn't so much what he said, but what he conveyed as a person. It was a great conversation, and that was the beginning of a spectacular relationship.

“But everything takes time. The club had basically turned over the entire midfield. An iconic group that had won everything. When me, Dom [Dominik Szoboszlai], Ryan [Gravenberch] and [Wataru] Endo came in, it took us a minute to be comfortable playing our way, you know?

“That [previous] midfield was very heavy metal. We were different players. A bit less direct. We like to play. But when you have players like Mo [Salah] and Lucho [Luis Diaz] and Cody [Gakpo] up top, they want the ball yesterday. It took us some time to adapt.”

Mac Allister's maiden campaign at Anfield saw him play 46 matches under Klopp, scoring seven goals. That included netting Liverpool's Goal of the Season during a thrilling 4-3 triumph over Fulham, though the Reds' season ended in underwhelming fashion as they missed out on the league title after winning the Carabao Cup.

Unfortunately, it was also his only season under Klopp, as the Liverpool boss shocked the Reds’ dressing room by announcing he would leave at the end of the 2023/24 campaign. But Mac Allister enjoyed an even more pivotal role the following year under successor Arne Slot, making 49 appearances in all competitions and scoring seven goals en route to the Premier League title.

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