Gary McAllister urges Liverpool to sign Harry Wilson on a free
Gary McAllister knows the value of a free transfer at Liverpool better than most. Two decades on from arriving at Anfield for nothing and helping to deliver a cup treble, the Scot is adamant his former club should repeat the trick – this time with a familiar face.
Harry Wilson, once the great hope of Liverpool’s Academy production line, is about to walk away from Fulham for nothing. His contract is running down, talks have stalled, and when the month ends a 29-year-old, Premier League-proven right winger with 69 Wales caps will be on the market.
McAllister cannot quite believe Liverpool might let that pass them by.
A Liverpool education, a Fulham finished article
Wilson’s story is well known on Merseyside. He joined Liverpool as a boy, rose through the ranks and lit up youth games with that left foot, but never quite broke the glass ceiling into the first team. Just two senior appearances came his way, scattered between a series of loans at Crewe Alexandra, Hull City, Derby County, Bournemouth and Cardiff City.
Fulham finally gave him a permanent home, initially on loan and then in a full-time move from Anfield. Across five seasons at Craven Cottage he became a mainstay: 187 appearances, 36 goals, 46 assists. Reliable end product, week after week.
McAllister saw the raw version at Kirkby and recognises the polished one at Fulham.
He recalls Wilson as one of the names that always cropped up when staff at Anfield talked about the next wave. The performances he now produces in the Premier League, McAllister argues, are simply the senior version of what Liverpool’s youth coaches used to rave about – sharp passing, a knack for goals, relentless running.
In his eyes, Wilson has grown into “a very complete player”, the natural evolution of that wiry teenager who used to light up youth fixtures.
A market opportunity Liverpool can’t ignore?
The timing is intriguing. Liverpool’s right flank is entering a new era. Mohamed Salah has departed, taking with him a decade of goals and gravity. Hugo Ekitike, signed to help refresh the attack, faces a long spell out with injury.
At the same time, Wilson is about to become a free agent, his stock high after establishing himself as a “top-end Premier League player” in McAllister’s words, and as a mainstay for Wales. He featured in all three of his country’s matches at the last World Cup, another stage on which he proved he belongs at the highest level.
Clubs have noticed. Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton have all been strongly linked, circling a player who offers creativity, set-piece threat and the tactical discipline modern coaches demand from wide forwards.
McAllister’s view is blunt: if that many ambitious clubs are in the queue, Liverpool should be in it too.
He points to Wilson’s grounding in “the Liverpool way”, the years spent learning the club’s standards and style, and the work ethic that has carried him from promising academy product to international regular. This, he insists, is not a gamble on potential. It is a move for a proven performer who knows exactly what Anfield expects.
For McAllister, who once walked through the same doors as a free signing and left with his name etched into club folklore, the logic is clear. With Wilson available for nothing and Liverpool reshaping their attack, how often will an opportunity like this come around again?
