Jurgen Klopp was blown away by £45m player during the World Cup, now he’s trying to sign him

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Jurgen Klopp was blown away by imminent new Liverpool recruit Alexis Mac Allister during last winter’s World Cup.

Mac Allister was brilliant in Qatar, starting six of Argentina’s seven games en-route to winning the trophy. Having even claimed a delightful assist in the final against France, the 24-year-old was one of the tournament’s break-out stars.

It was a performance that made the football world sit up and take notice. And according to The Daily Mail, Mac Allister’s soon-to-be new boss Klopp was one left ‘marvelling’ at his displays for his country.

If what he saw in the Middle East planted a seed in Jurgen’s head, then Mac Allister’s showing against Liverpool in January seemingly sprouted it.

The Argentine was one of the chief orchestrators of the Reds 3-0 loss against Brighton that Saturday afternoon. The Mail claim that just 48 hours after that game, Klopp was already thinking about how Mac Allister would fit into his team. Six months on, it looks like Jurgen is set to get the chance to put his thoughts into reality.

Klopp gets his man… again

With Klopp now yielding more power than ever in Liverpool’s recruitment process, this isn’t a surprise to hear. The likes of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz have been bought on the back of stellar displays against the Reds.

Obviously, that isn’t the only reason they were brought in. But if it’s a choice between a player who has impressed Klopp live and a player who hasn’t, Jurgen’s perception is always going to swing the balance.

Thankfully, the manager does seem to have a good eye for what his team need. Clearly, there is more to come from both Diaz and Nunez, but the materials are there.

Plainly they are with Mac Allister, too. And with The Athletic reporting this afternoon that his price-tag is set to be around £45m, Liverpool have got themselves a bargain.

Big things are expected, but maybe they shouldn’t be expected immediately. It’ll be a jump up in quality for Mac Allister upon joining the Reds. Not to do Brighton down, but the standard and size of the club he’s leaving to the one he’s arriving at is near incomparable.

Alexis will take time to get used to that and to the demands expected of him in Klopp’s system.

But hey, this is a guy who’s shown he can slug it with Lionel Messi. It doesn’t get much bigger than that. Fingers crossed he can take his form over the last six months into his early Liverpool career and beyond.