Klopp phone call key factor in beating Man City to £150,000-a-week signing

Jurgen Klopp's phone call to Alexis Mac Allister was a key factor in beating Manchester City to the Argentine's signature. Liverpool signed the midfielder for £35 million after activating his release clause to make him the first signing in the summer's midfielder rebuild.

Adding a World Cup winner, a midfielder that helped Lionel Messi lift the fabled trophy, at the very beginning of the summer was an important move for Liverpool in their bid to rebuild an ageing and ineffective midfield.

Liverpool parted ways with experienced and influential players in Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and James Milner while the likes of Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain left the club after their contracts expired.

In a recent interview, Mac Allister's father, Carlos, has revealed the reasons why his son chose to move to Anfield in a move that saw him triple his Brighton wages to £150,000-a-week at Anfield. He says the desire shown by Liverpool to sign Mac Allister was crucial to convincing the midfielder to join the Reds.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Carlos Mac Allister said: “The reason why Alexis went to Liverpool is because they showed so much interest in having him on their team.

“They showed a desire to count on him and we wanted Alexis to go to a team where he could be settled for the start of pre-season; move on the first day of the transfer window – all that stuff.

“This was so important because we wanted him to have a good preparation with the team he decided to sign with. ”

Phone call from Jurgen Klopp key to signing Mac Allister

In addition to wanting to settle in quickly, charismatic Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had an influential role to play in the new signing. The German has been critical to the Merseyside attracting top young talent ever since he joined the club in 2015.

“Jurgen Klopp was crucial a figure in the transfer. He was talking with Alexis,” Carlos continued.

“When he received the phone call from Jurgen it was important in deciding which team he should choose to play for.

“Already Alexis likes to work with Jurgen, and Jurgen likes to work with Alexis.

“I think that is very important for a player to train at a place where you feel loved, and also your trainer and mates trust you at every moment.”

His overturned red card aside, Mac Allister has been a great signing for Liverpool so far.

The former Brighton midfielder did struggle against Wolves but after travelling so far with Argentina and not having much time to recover, fans were very understanding.

Liverpool badly needed a player with Mac Allister's technical ability and playmaking last season. Without someone like him to pull the strings, they became overly reliant on Trent Alexander-Arnold to run the game from fullback.

That's not to say the vice-captain is not still an important creative outlet for Liverpool but scoring goals is no longer solely reliant on whether or not he can produce a pinpoint pass.

Alongside, Dominik Szoboszlai is one of the most exciting players in the Premier League. Still only 22, it seems as though the Hungarian is destined to be a superstar but has the humility to remain grounded, basing his success on hard work.

Throw 21-year-old Ryan Gravenberch into the mix along with Liverpool's other exciting young midfielders Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Stefan Bajcetic and Klopp's midfield looks set to grow and develop as a unit quite rapidly.