Liverpool given January midfield transfer demand after Alexis Mac Allister injury concern

The Argentina international was brought off at half time in last weekend's 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace, which Arne Slot confirmed was injury-related, as he had felt pain in his groin.

Nevertheless, Mac Allister has travelled to represent his country in this month's October internationals, as Argentina prepare to face Venezuela in Thursday's 2026 World Cup qualifier before a meeting with Bolivia next Tuesday.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has revealed that Mac Allister is still training individually and is a huge doubt for the Venezuela clash, and speaking to Sports Mole, Lynch suggested that Liverpool would to see the midfielder rested completely if he is not 100%.

"Yeah, he's a bit of a warrior as well, isn't he? In that he probably wouldn't be one of those who'd say, 'I'm feeling something, I'm not going to go'. He wants to go out and represent his country, which is fair enough," Lynch said when asked if Liverpool fans would rather Mac Allister was kept at home.

"But yeah, a little bit of a blow for Liverpool. I'm sure they'll be keeping an eye on it. If he's feeling any discomfort, Liverpool just won't want him to get on the pitch for Argentina, if possible, they don't want to be dealing with that issue."

Lynch urges Liverpool to address "lack of depth" in midfield

Mac Allister and the rejuvenated Ryan Gravenberch have thrived in the Liverpool engine room this season, while Curtis Jones is still knocking on the first-team door and was recently added to the England squad for their Nations League games against Greece and Finland.

However, Harvey Elliott has been out for the past few weeks with a foot injury, while Wataru Endo and Tyler Morton have not been given much of a look-in under Slot, who also allowed Bobby Clark and Stefan Bajcetic to join Red Bull Salzburg - the former leaving permanently.

As a result, Lynch feels that a new midfielder is an area that the club should explore in January, adding: "I think we've seen in this early part of the season, there's maybe a lack of depth in central midfield. I know Harvey Elliott has been injured and he's an important option in that number 10 position, but once you get past Gravenberch and Mac Allister, Jones is the next cab off the rank.

"Beyond that, it starts to look really thin, and you're going to be asking an awful lot from these central midfielders for them to do all that legwork in that central area over the course of a season.

"I think it speaks to the idea that, for me, Liverpool could probably do with another in there, particularly because Bajcetic has gone on loan and the manager's not a big fan of Endo and what he brings in that role, so it suggests to me that Liverpool could probably do with something in there.

"Maybe that's something that they could look at in January, but the main concern in the short term is getting Mac Allister back in one piece, and I think Slot will be watching those Argentina games through his fingers."

Which midfielders could Liverpool target in January?

Despite significantly overhauling their midfield in 2023, Liverpool's mission to upgrade their engine room is still not complete, as evidenced by their relentless pursuit of Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi over the summer.

The Spaniard ultimately stayed loyal to his boyhood club and recently insisted that he has no regrets about staying in San Sebastian, meaning that a January approach is surely a non-starter.

In terms of alternative targets, Liverpool are rumoured to be interested in a deal for PSV Eindhoven's Netherlands international Joey Veerman, whom Slot is familiar with from his time in the Eredivisie.

The Reds have also been tipped to revive their interest in Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni, whom they were heavily linked with in 2022 before Monaco agreed to sell him to Los Blancos.

For the time being, Slot will be keeping his fingers crossed that Mac Allister comes through the international break unscathed, but there is hope that Elliott will be back from his foot fracture in time for the clash with Chelsea on October 20.