Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Brighton midfielder for a fee believed to be in the region of just £35million.
The Argentina international, who will wear the No.10, was pictured at the Merseyside club’s AXA training ground on Tuesday evening to complete a medical before putting pen to paper on a long-term contract.
Mac Allister enjoyed an excellent campaign for both club and country, playing an integral role in his nation’s win as well as netting 10 times in the .
A contract extension he signed shortly before jetting out to included a release clause that Liverpool have now triggered, which is thought to be around the £35m mark – a bargain in today’s market.
All parties wanted the deal wrapped up before the 24-year-old jets out to Beijing next week for Argentina’s friendly against Australia, before then playing against Indonesia in Jakarta.
Speaking about the move after it was confirmed on Thursday, Mac Allister told the club’s official website: ‘It feels amazing. It’s a dream come true, it’s amazing to be here and I can’t wait to get started.
‘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.’
He added: ‘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.’
Mac Allister’s arrival kick-starts a massive midfield rebuild for Jurgen Klopp, who has lost James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Liverpool had long been favourites to sign Jude Bellingham, but were for the Borussia Dortmund teenager who is instead on the verge of joining Real Madrid.
In addition to Mac Allister, Klopp still wants to bring in at least one more midfielder and Liverpool have been linked with a trio of young talents: Gladbach’s Manu Kone, Nice starlet Khephren Thuram and Celta youngster Gabri Veiga.
Brighton, meanwhile, have already moved quickly to replace Mac Allister, with both Milner and Dortmund midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud set to move to the south coast on free transfers.
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