Alexis Mac Allister has every right to be unhappy with Liverpool’s decision not to offer him a new contract. What he shouldn’t have done is turn that private frustration into a public storyline.

By revealing that Liverpool had told his agent a new deal wasn’t currently possible, saying the situation made him “very, very sad” and comparing his position with Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch, Mac Allister put the club in an awkward position.

My issue isn’t whether he’s disappointed. My issue is that Liverpool players shouldn’t be discussing contract disputes in public, especially after a poor season and with two years still remaining on their deals.

If you’ve got a problem with your contract, deal with it behind closed doors. Speak to your agent. Speak to the club. Do your talking on the pitch.

And in Mac Allister’s case, coming off the back of a poor season makes the timing even harder to understand.

Mac Allister was asked about his future before Liverpool’s Champions League game against Atlético Madrid. He could have given the usual answer. He’s happy at Liverpool, he’s got two years remaining on his contract and anything beyond that is between him, his representatives and the club.

Instead, he gave everyone plenty to talk about.

He revealed Liverpool had told his agent they weren’t in a position to offer him a new contract and said the situation made him “very, very sad”. He also brought Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch into the conversation, saying he was happy they’d received new deals but disappointed that he hadn’t got one himself.

I don’t like it.

Players are going to be unhappy about contracts. Agents are going to push for better deals. Clubs are going to make decisions players don’t agree with.

That’s football.

But once you take it public, everybody else gets dragged into it.

Iraola was then asked about Mac Allister’s comments. He handled it well. He said he was glad Mac Allister wanted to stay, described him as an important player and pointed out there was plenty of time to discuss his future.

But why put your manager in that position?

Iraola is still relatively new to the job. He wants Mac Allister on side, but he’s also representing Liverpool. He can’t criticise his player publicly and he can’t start discussing the club’s contract strategy.

It’s an awkward situation that didn’t need creating.

And then there’s the actual argument about whether Mac Allister should have been offered a new contract.

I don’t think he deserved one.

Liverpool would have been silly to give him a new deal after last season. He wasn’t the only player who struggled, but in my opinion he was one of Liverpool’s poorest performers.

Mac Allister pointed towards the new contracts given to Szoboszlai and Gravenberch.

Szoboszlai I understand. He was Liverpool’s best player last season.

Gravenberch is different.

I wouldn’t have given him a new deal either.

His contract came in March 2026, towards the end of a season in which I thought he was poor. The outstanding title-winning season he’d produced was already well behind him by then.

And if we’re comparing their Liverpool careers as a whole, I’ll actually defend Mac Allister here.

Mac Allister has had one bad season at Liverpool. Gravenberch has only had one good one.

That’s an important distinction.

Mac Allister has been the more consistent player over the course of their Liverpool careers. But that still doesn’t mean Liverpool were wrong not to offer him a new contract after a poor season.

And the Gravenberch deal worries me for another reason.

He’s reportedly earning around £280,000 a week.

That’s huge money for a player who has since found himself on the bench, with Iraola preferring Mac Allister and Szoboszlai together recently.

This could cause Liverpool problems down the road. We’ve seen before how difficult it can become when players on huge wages aren’t playing regularly, and at a reported £280,000 a week, this would be an extreme example.

Once you put a player on that kind of wage, you’ve made him much harder to move if things don’t work out.

So when Mac Allister points to Gravenberch’s contract as evidence that he should have received one too, my response isn’t that Liverpool should have paid Mac Allister.

It’s that Liverpool shouldn’t have paid Gravenberch that kind of money either.

On a reported £280,000 a week, he’s nowhere near consistent enough to justify being one of the highest-paid players in Liverpool’s entire squad.

That’s why I also found some of Mac Allister’s comments about continuing to work hard strange. He said he’d continue giving 100 per cent until his last day at Liverpool.

I’d expect him to.

He’s being paid to play for Liverpool and give everything he has. Working hard isn’t something that should need presenting as reassurance because you haven’t received the contract you wanted.

But here’s where Mac Allister deserves credit.

He’s doing his talking on the pitch now.

I’ve been much happier with him this season. In fact, I think he’s been Liverpool’s best midfielder so far.

Against Atlético Madrid, particularly in the second half, I thought he was excellent. He scored the winner and looked much more like the Mac Allister of old.

That’s exactly what I want to see.

And it matters because this isn’t about me having a problem with Mac Allister.

I’m not going to pretend he’s playing badly because I disagree with something he’s said. If anything, comparing his Liverpool career with Gravenberch’s reminds you how much good football Mac Allister has played for this club.

There is also a fair defence of what he said.

He was asked about his future. He didn’t attack Liverpool. He made it very clear that he wants to stay.

Some supporters will look at that and wonder what the problem is.

I still think he went too far.

There was an easy way out of the question. Say you’re happy at Liverpool. Say you’ve got two years left. Say contracts are dealt with privately.

Done.

Instead, Liverpool’s manager was answering questions about it, the media were debating it and a private disagreement between a player and his club became a Liverpool story.

Mac Allister has every opportunity to change Liverpool’s thinking.

He’s already started doing it.

If the Mac Allister we’re watching now keeps turning up every week, Liverpool might eventually have a very different decision to make.

Keep playing.

Keep performing.

Make yourself impossible to ignore.

Do your talking on the pitch.