Liverpool's Mac Allister wants TAA to stay

Alexis Mac Allister is hopeful Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold will continue at the club next season.

Just like Reds defender Virgil van Dijk and forward Mohamed Salah, Alexander-Arnold becomes a free agent next summer.

Linked to Real Madrid, the English right-back is in talks to sign a new contract to remain at Anfield.

"Hopefully Trent and Virgil can continue with us along with Salah," Mac Allister told Diario AS. "Alexander-Arnold is crucial as we saw against Manchester City when he came back from injury.

"Like Salah, he is in negotiations and hopefully he can continue in the team."

Alexander-Arnold, 26, is in his ninth season at Liverpool.

He has made 17 appearances for Arne Slot's side this campaign and continues to be a key player.

"His quality is enormous," Mac Allister said of the England international. "I have always said that he was criticised for his defensive role, but I have no doubt that both in defence and attack he is a differential player. He is also strong and quick which allows him to find that balance between attack and defence."

Mac Allister, meanwhile, is keen for Argentina teammate Lionel Messi to play at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Messi, 37, has not ruled out competing in the next World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, despite previously suggesting that the 2022 tournament in Qatar, when he led Argentina to the title, would be his last.

"I hope he can arrive because he is the player who makes the difference," Mac Allister, a 2022 World Cup winner, said of Messi.

"It is always a plus to have him with us. Hopefully. I think so. There is a year and a half left to get to the World Cup, and that is nothing. He seems happy, and although I don't know what is going to happen with his future, it seems that he is going to continue playing and enjoying [football] at Inter Miami."

Mac Allister, who has represented Argentina since 2019, praised Messi's influence.

"Leo is everything," the Liverpool midfielder said. "For my generation and for those of us who have shared a dressing room with him, he's everything. It makes me happy to share a dressing room with Messi and to be able to say that I have played with the best of all time."