Liverpool have reportedly agreed an incredible deal to sign Alexis Mac Allister. Now there are a few more things needed to put together the perfect team ahead of preseason.

It’s no secret that Liverpool like to finish early. Fabinho was announced shortly after the 2018 Champions League final defeat, while a deal for Ibrahima Konaté was finalized in May 2021. Alexis Mac Allister looks to be the next installment of that trend. Full agreement on a deal has reportedly been reached before the Premier League transfer window has even begun. According to Fabrizio Romano, the final fee Liverpool will pay is a surprisingly low $44m (£35m/€41m).

By closing the deal so quickly, Liverpool appear to have guaranteed Jürgen Klopp a full pre-season at Mac Allister, allowing him to integrate the Argentine right into his style of play. This process could be important for the entire team this summer, as the coach is about to decide how he wants his next big team to be tactically.

To that end, in the dream window, Liverpool would also quickly deliver the rest of their signings, with an ideal pre-season scenario unfolding. With players set to go on international duty as they join the roster on July 11, this is the flexible deadline for the Reds to complete the bulk of their signing.

Mac Allister is the perfect start to the transfer window but plenty of other players will need to arrive to make the summer truly elite. Now that Real Madrid have agreed a fee for Jude Bellingham, the gamble is bigger than ever: whoever signs Liverpool should have a bigger overall impact.

So there will clearly be more midfielders on the agenda. As good as Mac Allister is, he can’t match Bellingham’s skills alone. Ideally, the squad would be expanded to include a more defensive presence to recreate that side of the Englishman’s game – of the names associated with Liverpool, Roméo Lavia seems to be the best.

It’s no secret that Liverpool like to do business early. Fabinho was announced shortly after losing the 2018 Champions League final, while Ibrahima Konaté was signed in May 2021. Alexis Mac Allister seems to be the next continuation of this trend.

A full agreement on a deal has reportedly been reached before the Premier League transfer window has even opened. According to Fabrizio Romano, the final transfer fee Liverpool will pay is an incredibly low $44m (£35m/€41m).

By signing the deal so quickly, Liverpool appear to have guaranteed Jurgen Klopp a full pre-season with Mac Allister, allowing him to properly integrate the Argentine into their style of play. This process may well be important for the whole squad. this summer as the manager has to decide what his next big team should look like from a tactical perspective.

To that end, the Dream Window envisions Liverpool making the rest of their signings quickly as well, with an ideal pre-season scenario emerging. With players due to join the squad on July 11 joining the national team, that’s the deadline for the Reds to complete the bulk of their buy-ins. Mac Allister is the perfect start to the transfer window but plenty of other players will need to arrive to make the summer truly elite. Now that Real Madrid have agreed a fee for Jude Bellingham, the gamble is bigger than ever: whoever signs Liverpool should have a bigger overall impact.

So there will clearly be more midfielders on the agenda. As good as Mac Allister is, he can’t match Bellingham’s skills alone. Ideally, a more defensive presence should be added to the squad to emulate that side of the Englishman’s game – of the names linked to Liverpool, Roméo Lavia appears to be the best fit. Lavia caught the eye of many top clubs with his colossal defensive performances in an admittedly weak Southampton side. His blocking numbers at the 96th percentile (midfielders in Europe’s top 5 leagues) would no doubt decline with a Liverpool side designed to absorb much less pressure, but his strong tackling and interception game should help prevent transitions who have ruined the whole season for Klopp.

Alongside Lavia and Mac Allister in midfield, Khéphren Thuram would give Liverpool the opportunity to field a brand new central trio. The Frenchman would more likely initially be a rotation option, much like the Southampton star, but they would emerge with a clear medium-term path to becoming a regular.

To complete this incredible summer, there is a defender. Midfield needs such a restart as Liverpool have been caught dozing off and it’s important to avoid a replay later on. Virgil van Dijk and Joël Matip are both aging, while question marks remain about Joe Gomez: if FSG were to make the most of it, they would sign Joško Gvardiol.

That would be a really tough deal to pull off, and there are some more realistic alternatives that could still cap off a very successful period. But ultimately Liverpool are looking for the best long-term partner for Konaté, so they can’t do things by halves.

How close Liverpool will get to this dream transfer window remains to be seen. But if most of those players are there when Klopp names his squad for the July 19 game against Karlsruher SC, it will have been an amazing summer and Mac Allister looks like he’s already started.