Alexis Mac Allister will become Liverpool’s first signing this summer in the coming days, subject to a medical check.
The Argentine international will sign a long-term deal at Anfield, ending his spell at the South Coast’s AMEX Stadium, as a busy spell begins for Jurgen Klopp, outgoing sporting director Julian Ward and his successor Jorg Schmadtke.
The Reds’ engine room has come under criticism this season as Liverpool have struggled to maintain the standards they set for themselves in their pursuit of the quadruple. Criticism was leveled on the likes of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho before turning their season around with a series of important wins, finishing the season unbeaten in 11 games.
With the announcement of a squad overhaul, Anfield parted ways with four members of their trophy-laden spell under the German tactician, three of whom were midfield selection options.
James Milner’s eight-year tenure on Merseyside ended when his contract expired. Meanwhile, the terms of Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have also come to an end.
Their departure leaves numbers 7, 8 and 13 vacant. Roberto Firmino is another player whose career with the Reds will end this summer. This will leave number 9 vacant for the first time since 2016, when he took over Liverpool’s legendary shirt number following the departure of Christian Benteke.
Mac Allister has had a range of shirt numbers throughout his career, from his days in his native Argentina to his days with the Seagulls.
In his early days with AA Argentinos Juniors had different shirt numbers of 16, 15, 14, 13, 10, nine and eight before switching to 28 for one season.
He reverted to number 10 during his last two years before his move to Boca Juniors, where he was handed the number 8 shirt. During his time at Brighton, he kept the number 10 shirt.
A possible chance for him to land his dream number remains as the 10 has remained vacant since the departure of Sadio Mane last summer. The 24-year-old could follow fellow South American midfielder Philippe Coutinho, who held the shirt number between 2012 and 2018.
ECHO had previously reported that there was hope the Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder’s deal could be finalized before he joins Argentina. The Albiceleste will be rekindled next week in view of the friendlies with Australia and Indonesia.
Arthur Melo will give up the number 29 at the end of his loan at Anfield. Much of the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s are available with Joel Matip, Stefan Bajcetic, Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips occupying 32, 43, 46 and 47 respectively.
With his iconic 66, Trent Alexander-Arnold has the highest squad number of any regular first-team players.
Full list of numbers available: 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 16, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99
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Liverpool confirm two more pre-season friendlies in Germany
Liverpool’s pre-season schedule is beginning to take shape, with the club confirming two more friendlies as part of their training camp in Germany.
The Reds will start to report back for pre-season at the AXA Training Centre on July 8, with a trip to Germany the following week.
While taking in a rigorous training schedule in the Black Forest region, Jurgen Klopp‘s side will also play two friendly fixtures.
Liverpool have confirmed they will play Karlsruher SC on Wednesday, July 19, kicking off at 5.30pm BST to open the 2.Bundesliga side’s BBBank Wildpark.
The next game will be played behind closed doors against 2.Bundesliga club SpVgg Greuther Furth on Monday, July 24 at 12pm BST.
Pre-season begins – AXA Training Centre – July 8
Internationals return – AXA Training Centre – July 11
Karlsruher SC – Germany – July 19
SpVgg Greuther Furth – Germany – July 24
Leicester – Singapore – July 30
Bayern Munich – Singapore – August 2
TBC – England – August 7
They will then fly directly to Singapore for meetings with Leicester on July 30 and Bayern Munich on August 2 as part of the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy.
After that, Liverpool are expected to return to the UK for at least one domestic friendly, with the club in talks over playing an overseas side at Preston’s Deepdale stadium on August 7.
The Premier League campaign kicks off on the weekend of August 12/13, meaning there is a chance of squeezing in another friendly before then.
It is possible that the Reds will play twice in two days, as they did last summer, though Klopp has expressed concerns over the arrangement of the warmup to the season just gone.
Karlsruher finished seventh in the Germany second tier and are managed by their former defender Christian Eichner.
Meanwhile, Furth took 12th spot in the league, having been relegated from the Bundesliga on their return from eight seasons away in 2021/22.
