The last player to return to Liverpool this summer may need a little extra time to settle back in.Following an exhausting and emotionally charged spell with Argentina at the World Cup, in which the defending champions reached the final before losing to Spain, Alexis Mac Allister arrived back on Merseyside this week, and is expected to need at least a fortnight to get back up to speed.After a disappointing 2025-26 season, and despite whispers of a move away, Mac Allister’s focus will now turn to sharpening up his game for Liverpool — unless there is a major change of pace in the transfer window before the end of the month.According to sources — all of whom asked to remain anonymous to protect their positions — Mac Allister’s focus is on impressing new head coach Andoni Iraola and helping Liverpool improve their Premier League position, following a torrid campaign that ended in a fifth-place finish for the outgoing title holders. There are no active talks over a new contract now he’s into the final two years of the current one but, equally, no panic about the future. Liverpool are waiting for Inter’s next move in their pursuit of Curtis Jones, so letting another first-team midfielder go this summer is not part of their immediate plans.Mac Allister played a key role in Argentina reaching a second straight World Cup final (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)The intriguing element is whether Liverpool would change their stance if a serious offer came in. Right now, there is not one on the table, but a potential midfield merry-go-round is possible if Manchester City’s Rodri moves to Spain over the next two weeks, and that could bring Mac Allister into the picture.Liverpool chose to prioritise contract extensions for his fellow midfielders Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, and with two years left on his deal, Mac Allister’s value will only decrease with each passing window. While this summer would be an ideal time to extract maximum value for a player who will be 28 in December, the difficulty of finding a replacement at this stage of the summer makes that unlikely.Iraola will cast his eye over Mac Allister this week and work out how he best fits into his system. “I think Alexis has been one of the best players at the club for the last few years, and he has had a very good World Cup, so it is normal that other clubs want our best players,” the new Liverpool head coach said last month.“It always happens in other markets. But I want to keep my good players. I’m looking forward more to signing new players rather than losing the ones we have here.”While Gravenberch received a lot of praise for his performances during Liverpool’s Premier League title-winning season in 2024-25, and Szoboszlai was just as eye-catching, there is a strong argument that Mac Allister was their best and most important midfielder for much of that campaign.