Manchester City Tests Liverpool Over Alexis Mac Allister Swap Deal
Liverpool is braced to fend off interest from Manchester City in Alexis Mac Allister this summer, with the Premier League champion weighing up a move for the Argentine midfielder.
City’s admiration is real. Mac Allister has just two years left on his Liverpool deal, and the situation carries a warning the club cannot ignore. Liverpool has already allowed Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konaté to walk away for nothing. It cannot afford a repeat.
Under Arne Slot in the 2024/25 title-winning campaign, Mac Allister was one of Liverpool’s standout performers, central to the control and fluency that carried the club to the Premier League crown. Then the drop-off came.
Last season, at 27, he looked heavy-legged and short of spark. His defensive work became a problem, his attacking influence faded, and criticism grew louder with each flat display. The contrast with his high points for Argentina was striking. He produced strong World Cup performances, yet even there some games stirred the same doubts: is this the moment to cash in?
City’s interest sharpens that question. And it introduces a possibility English football rarely sees – a player-for-player trade between two direct rivals.
Liverpool’s missing piece at No. 6
Inside Anfield, the need is obvious. Liverpool has gone too long without a specialist holding midfielder. Trey Nyoni is expected to step up this season, but his strengths lie in driving from box to box, not sitting and screening the back four for 90 minutes.
Ryan Gravenberch has been asked to plug the gap. He can operate as both a No. 8 and a No. 6, and he keeps the ball well, but his game is built on retention rather than reading danger and snapping into tackles. The balance of the midfield still feels off.
That is where City’s Nico Gonzalez comes into focus.
The Spanish midfielder joined City from Porto in February 2025 in a £50 million ($68 million) deal. He arrived with a reputation as a high-ceiling holding player, comfortable under pressure and physically robust. Crucially, he plays the role Liverpool has been trying to patch together since Fabinho left.
City’s midfield reshuffle has created an opening. Rodri has gone to Barcelona, yet Pep Guardiola’s side has already moved to replace him with Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille in a $116 million transfer. Elliott Anderson has also been brought in, while Rico Lewis, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Nico O’Reilly have all been used in the defensive midfield role.
Even after Rodri’s departure, City has not closed the door on selling Nico. Newcastle is interested, and inside the game he is still viewed as a player who has not fully hit his ceiling, even if he has already produced some dominant displays – including a standout performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
For Liverpool, that profile is tempting. Nico can sit in front of the defense, play with control, and impose himself physically. He looks like the kind of No. 6 Andoni Iraola relied on at Bournemouth, only at a higher level than Tyler Adams or Alex Scott.
A rare swap that could suit both giants
So the equation forms. City wants Mac Allister. Liverpool needs a true holding midfielder. A direct trade is on the table in theory, even if such deals almost never happen between clubs of this stature.
On pure market value, Mac Allister should command the higher fee. Liverpool would expect Nico plus money – potentially around $20 million – if it chose to engage. That is why some around the club would argue a straight player-for-player deal makes little sense.
Yet the squad picture adds nuance. Curtis Jones is leaving, but Liverpool still has Gravenberch, Nyoni, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz and Harvey Elliott who can all operate in central areas. The interior roles are well stocked. The pure No. 6 role is not.
Nico’s arrival would finally give Liverpool the dedicated defensive midfielder it has lacked since Fabinho’s departure. It would also free Nyoni to play in his natural, more adventurous role, easing his transition into regular first-team football rather than burdening him with the most tactically demanding position on the pitch.
Decision time on Mac Allister
All of this leads back to the contract clock. Liverpool cannot allow Mac Allister to drift towards free agency as Alexander-Arnold and Konaté did. The club must make a firm choice: tie him down on new terms or be prepared to listen when serious offers arrive.
City is knocking. Newcastle is circling Nico. The market is moving, and Liverpool’s midfield is at a crossroads.
The next decision on Mac Allister will say as much about the club’s long-term planning as it will about its faith in a player whose form has veered from title-winning to troubling in the space of a year.
