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It seems a long time ago now, but go back to the day that Liverpool sealed the Premier League title under Arne Slot in 2025 and there is a lovely clip of Alexis Mac Allister.
As the final whistle goes and the players run on to the pitch to celebrate, Mac Allister sits alone on the bench and starts to cry., external
That day, when the Argentina midfielder scored a goal the celebrations inside Anfield registered 1.74 on the Richter scale - just shy of the 2.0 needed for a minor earthquake.
Mac Allister was undeniably a force that season and integral to Liverpool's title-winning campaign.
But a year on, after a disappointing campaign that wasn't helped by injury problems at the outset, Mac Allister would be the first to admit that the 2025-26 season fell below the standards he had set previously.
It was undoubtedly the poorest of his three campaigns since he arrived from Brighton for £35m in 2023.
Inevitably, there were question marks about his future going into the summer, but seeing him play a starring role for Argentina at the World Cup will please new Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola - even if it means he will have to wait a little longer before meeting Mac Allister.
Bar Argentina's last group-stage game - when qualification was already secured - the 27-year-old has played every minute for his country, including 120 minutes against both Cape Verde and Switzerland, which went to extra time. Only the keeper, Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez, has played more minutes for Argentina.
Across those games, Mac Allister has played 539 minutes, won 31 duels, 10 tackles, made nine interceptions and applied high pressure 208 times - all numbers which put him high up in the rankings.
"I feel like maybe the number eight position, also double number six (double pivot), is my best position, but I can play anywhere," Mac Allister told ESPN last month.
That versatility will be food for thought for Iraola - who is known to want his midfielders to be all action, given his high-press system and his desire for his teams to be direct.
Regardless of the result against England in Wednesday's World Cup semi-final, Argentina will be in the United States until the weekend, when the third-place play-off and final take place.
According to Fifa regulations, players at the World Cup are entitled to at least three weeks off, so anyone who features this weekend will not return to their clubs until 10 August at the earliest, which is less than two weeks before the Premier League season begins.
So there is a strong chance that Mac Allister won't be ready to start for the first few weeks of the season, but Iraola will know that when it comes to building his midfield, he already has a proven winner.
"It's always about winning," Mac Allister said on Saturday, after Argentina beat Switzerland in the quarter-final in a game in which he scored.
Mac Allister's CV already contains a World Cup and a Copa America title, as well as a Premier League title. He is the only man to have 12 World Cup appearances to his name and have won all 12 of those games.
He is no stranger to big games now and perhaps Wednesday's semi-final, when he will come up against England's midfield, will give the clearest indication yet that he is still an asset on the biggest stage.
