Alexis Mac Allister to Manchester City: How likely is transfer from Liverpool? Football Whispers Index score

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Alexis Mac Allister to Manchester City: How likely is transfer from Liverpool? Football Whispers Index score
Alexis Mac Allister to Man City: Photo by Iconsport/ Action Plus/ Andrew Yates / Sportimage

Intermediaries have offered Manchester City the chance to sign Alexis Mac Allister from Liverpool, with Enzo Fernandez's drawn-out move from Chelsea still unresolved four days before the transfer deadline.

Fabrizio Romano confirmed on 28 August that the approach came from third parties rather than City themselves, while Gianluca Di Marzio reported the club have explored what a deal would require.

Mac Allister's father and agent Carlos has publicly stated his son will stay at Liverpool, and the club are understood to have no interest in selling a second senior midfielder to a direct title rival after Curtis Jones's departure to Inter Milan.

The Football Whispers Index scores every transfer rumour across five weighted factors. Read how it works here.

Alexis Mac Allister to Manchester City rated ‘unlikely'

Mac Allister to Man City — Football Whispers Index
Football Whispers Index: Transfer predictor

Alexis Mac Allister to Manchester City

Unlikely
Intermediaries offered Mac Allister to City as a backup to Enzo Fernandez, but his father has publicly said he is staying at Liverpool and the club have no interest in selling to a direct title rival.
Updated
Financial viability22 / 25
Buying club need10 / 20
Player motivation7 / 15
Selling club incentive6 / 20
Market momentum11 / 20
Financial viability22 / 25
  • Mac Allister's Transfermarkt valuation of €70m would represent roughly 8.4% of Manchester City's €829.3m annual revenue, comfortably inside their spending power.
  • His £150,000-a-week wage at Liverpool is less than a third of Erling Haaland's £525,000, the highest at the Etihad, making him an easy fit on the payroll.
  • City's Squad Cost Ratio sits comfortably below the 85% threshold despite a summer spend that includes a club-record £116m on Elliot Anderson.
  • Mac Allister's contract runs until 30 June 2028, leaving two years for Liverpool to negotiate from, but also two summers in which his leverage grows.
Buying club need10 / 20
  • City lost Rodri to Barcelona for £65.4m, Bernardo Silva to Real Madrid on a free, and Tijjani Reijnders to Al Qadsiah, stripping four midfielders from last season's squad.
  • Elliot Anderson, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Mateo Kovacic, Nico O'Reilly and Matheus Nunes give City five central-midfield options already, with Anderson the intended centrepiece after his record move from Nottingham Forest.
  • Anderson's 2025/26 FotMob numbers at Forest outstrip Mac Allister's at Liverpool on almost every central-midfield metric: 11.2 line-breaking passes per 90 against 6.2, 306 recoveries against 112, and a season-long rating of 7.51 against 6.89.
Player motivation7 / 15
  • Mac Allister's father and agent Carlos said publicly in August 2026 that his son will stay at Liverpool.
  • Opta rank Manchester City first in England on 97.7 and Liverpool second on 95.8, making this a sideways move between the two strongest clubs in the country.
  • Mac Allister started 31 of 37 Premier League games for Liverpool last season, logging 2,662 minutes, and would face similar competition for a starting place at City alongside Anderson and Kovacic.
Selling club incentive6 / 20
  • Liverpool's €836.1m revenue is the highest of any Premier League club and their Squad Cost Ratio is low, leaving them under no financial pressure to sell.
  • Curtis Jones has already been sold to Inter Milan this window, and Liverpool have no identified replacement lined up if Mac Allister were also to leave.
  • Mac Allister's market value has dropped from a peak of €100m in May 2025 to €70m, but his output of 2 goals and 4 assists in 37 Premier League appearances last season represents stable rather than declining form.
Market momentum11 / 20
  • Gianluca Di Marzio reported on 28 August that City have explored the Mac Allister option and started initial contact while awaiting a resolution on Enzo Fernandez.
  • Fabrizio Romano confirmed the same day that intermediaries offered Mac Allister to City, but was clear that it came from third parties rather than the clubs and that Fernandez remains the priority.
  • No other journalist or outlet has independently advanced the story beyond republishing the Romano and Di Marzio reports.
The verdict48 / 100
Mac Allister to City sits in Unlikely because the move is intermediary-driven rather than club-driven, and both the player's camp and Liverpool have publicly signalled it will not happen.
It happens only if the Fernandez deal collapses entirely, City make Mac Allister a genuine priority, and Liverpool reverse a position they have held all summer.
It dies the moment Fernandez signs at City, or Liverpool simply refuse to negotiate with a direct title rival four days before the deadline.

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Byron is a sports journalist based in South Africa. He has a Media degree from the University of Kwa Zulu Natal and has been writing football content since 2019. Byron is also a sports presenter with experience in radio particularly.

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