The Liverpool midfielder said he ‘disliked’ being called it
Alexis Mac Allister comes from a family of footballers(Image: Copa/Getty Images)
Alexis Mac Allister comes from a passionate football family. The Liverpool midfielder has been a crucial part of Arne Slot’s team this season.
Building on his impressive debut season in the last campaign, the World Cup winner has helped Liverpool go top of the Premier League and Champions League table with a string of consistent performances. Mac Allister is likely to play again as the Reds face Manchester United at Anfield this afternoon – weather permitting. Mac Allister’s older brothers Francis and Kevin are also footballers. They are the sons of Carlos Mac Allister and nephews of Patricio Mac Allister, both retired footballers.
His father said in 2020 that the name has Irish roots. Carlos said: “According to our family, we came from Ireland, rather than Scotland. We came to Argentina, to a place called Pergamino, but that was three or four generations ago, and later my father and mother married and moved to a different place – Santa Rosa in the Province of La Pampa, which is where Alexis was born.”
A further update on this was provided by Mac Allister himself last month as he revealed some distant Irish relatives had been in touch. He said on Gary Lineker’s The Rest Is Football podcast: “Yeah, it is Irish. I don’t know why many people think it’s Scottish. It’s actually Irish. A couple of months or weeks ago I received a letter from my family in Ireland.
“(They were) asking me to go there one day. I would love to. It feels weird because I’m 25 and it just came out now. But hopefully one day I can go and meet all of my family.”
Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates his second goal in the 2022 World Cup Final with Alexis Mac Allister(Image: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
When Gary asked if brother Kevin was named after the main character from Christmas film Home Alone, he said: “Yeah it actually is and he didn’t know until he was 15 or 16. He was doing an interview and they asked him. We were listening to it in the kitchen and he was in the living room doing the interview. He said, ‘I don’t think so’. My mum was next to me and she was like, ‘yes, it’s because of the film’. It was quite a funny moment.”
Mac Allister has been fortunate to play with Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the best players of this generation, as part of the Argentina national team. The midfielder revealed in 2022 that Messi had sought early on to defend Mac Allister after his other teammates mocked his ginger hair.
Mac Allister said: “I remember everyone called me ‘Colo’, which is ginger in Argentina. I don’t like it much and he told the team-mates that. He said, ‘He doesn’t like to be called Colo, so don’t call him that!’”
Away from the pitch, the Argentine is in a relationship with Ailen Cova. Mac Allister’s girlfriend Ailen Cova often shares praise for her boyfriend’s performances on her Instagram page to her 128,000 followers.
Alexis Mac Allister and Ailen Cova on holiday in Switzerland last month(Image: Ailen Cova/Instagram)
Last month, Ailen shared a picture of herself with Maria Silvina, who is Mac Allister’s mum, at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. Mac Allister scored as Liverpool recorded a 6-3 win away from home against Spurs.
A picture of them in the stands was captioned “siempre”, which translates as “always”. Mac Allister shared both pictures on his own Instagram story.