Gary McAllister urges Liverpool to sign Harry Wilson on a free

Gary McAllister knows a bargain when he sees one. Liverpool fans remember that. A free transfer from Coventry City in 2000, he walked into Anfield at 35 and left a legend, with a UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup in his slipstream.

Now he believes Liverpool should repeat the trick — this time with a player who once walked the corridors of the Academy as a prodigy.

Harry Wilson, available on a free at the end of the month after failing to agree a new deal with Fulham, has caught McAllister’s eye again. The former Liverpool midfielder is adamant his old club should be in the race.

A Liverpool education, a Premier League finish

Wilson, 29, is not an unknown quantity on Merseyside. He grew up in Liverpool’s youth system, a left-footed right winger whose set-pieces and eye for goal made him one of the standout talents in the Academy.

He never quite broke through. Just two senior appearances for Liverpool, his time instead carved up into loans at Crewe Alexandra, Hull City, Derby County, Bournemouth and Cardiff City before he finally left for Fulham, initially on loan and then permanently.

What happened next is what interests McAllister.

Across five years at Craven Cottage, Wilson has become a fully-formed Premier League attacker: 187 appearances, 36 goals, 46 assists. A reliable, creative wide player who has learned how to survive and influence games at the top level rather than simply decorate them.

On the international stage, he has grown into a mainstay for Wales, winning 69 caps and featuring in all three of their matches at the last World Cup. This is no prospect. This is a finished article.

And with his contract running down, the market has reacted.

Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton have all been strongly linked with a move. Clubs with European ambitions, clubs that value versatility and end product from wide areas. Clubs that know there is no transfer fee to pay.

McAllister’s message is simple: Liverpool should be right in the middle of that conversation.

“Coached in the Liverpool way”

McAllister has watched Wilson’s journey from close quarters over the years. When he did media and ambassadorial work around Anfield, the name kept coming up.

He remembers the youngster who “always caught the eye” at Kirkby. The same player he now sees in Fulham colours.

The traits haven’t changed: range of passing, sharp movement, work without the ball, that knack of drifting into scoring positions from the right. The difference is that those qualities now belong to a player hardened by the Premier League and international football.

With Mohamed Salah gone and Hugo Ekitike facing a long-term injury, Liverpool’s right flank is no longer the locked-down territory it once was. There is a gap, both in numbers and in profile. A left-footed right winger who understands the club’s demands and can step straight into the league’s tempo suddenly looks a very logical piece of business.

McAllister, speaking to Grosvenor Casino, did not dress it up. In his eyes, Wilson is now “a top-end Premier League player”. The numbers, the performances for Fulham, the consistency for Wales — they all back that up.

And crucially, this is a player whose football education was shaped on Merseyside. He knows the expectations. He knows the noise. He knows what it means to play for Liverpool.

A free transfer with familiar echoes

The idea of Liverpool turning to the free-agent market for a player with deep roots in the club’s system carries a certain symmetry for McAllister. He lived that story himself, walking into a dressing room full of stars and proving that a supposedly low-cost move could change the direction of a season.

Wilson would not arrive as a sentimental signing or a nostalgia project. His output at Fulham shows he can create and score at this level, week after week. His work-rate and tactical discipline under multiple managers point to a player who can fit into an intense, pressing system.

That is why there will be “a lot of takers,” as McAllister puts it. Top-flight clubs do not often get the chance to add a proven Premier League winger and established international without paying a transfer fee.

The question now is whether Liverpool act like one of them.

With rivals circling and a rebuild already under way in attack, the decision at Anfield is stark: let a former Academy standout, now in his prime, strengthen someone else’s forward line — or bring Harry Wilson back to finish the story he started.