Liverpool news: Victor Munoz reveals surprise as Reds star told to show he deserves new deal

· Mirror

Liverpool now have a three week break from Premier League action

Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has time to take stock of his first few weeks in charge of the club with an extended international break now upon us. The Reds will not play again until the middle of October, when Manchester City are the visitors to Anfield.

Plenty of Iraola's stars will ship off to international duty, including Rio Ngumoha, who has been called into Thomas Tuchel's England squad. It has been a busy first month or so of the campaign, with several new faces settling into life on Merseyside.

Among those is Victor Munoz, who has been in the thick of the action from the word go away at Newcastle. The Spaniard is centre-stage in Monday morning's news round-up, while team-mate Alexis Mac Allister has also received a message from a former Liverpool star.

Mirror Football takes a look at the latest stories coming out of Anfield.

Munoz admits shock

Victor Munoz has enjoyed an impressive start to his Liverpool career after joining the club in a £34.5million deal. As he continues to come to terms with living and playing in a new country, the Spain international admitted that the physicality of the English top-flight has been quite the eye-opener.

Opening up about the difference in strength and pace between the Premier League and La Liga, Munoz told Spanish publication AS:

> "The level of play in England is extremely high. Every match is different and any opponent can seriously hurt you. Games are decided by the smallest details and winning isn't easy. > > "We're on an upward trajectory, trying to follow the manager's plan and it's just a matter of time before we take off. But what has surprised me most, by far, is the physical level of all the teams. In Spain, the game is more positional and tactical, whilst here it's constant back-and-forth. The matches are much crazier and all the teams have very physically powerful players."

Mac Allister handed challenge

Alexis Mac Allister has been told by Emile Heskey that he must do his talking on the pitch if he wants to clinch a new Liverpool contract. The Argentine admitted his dismay earlier this month about not getting a new deal, while midfield partners Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai recently signed fresh terms.

The 27-year-old has stepped up since his comments with impressive performances against Atletico Madrid and Tottenham. Heskey - who played for the Reds from 2000 to 2004 - insisted that Mac Allister needs to prove himself on the pitch to secure his long-term future at Anfield.

> "Alexis Mac Allister has had to step up on the pitch because it wasn't great before that," the former England striker told PariuriX. "You can talk, but you've got to put some action in play as well. He’s a fantastically talented player, we've seen it, but we didn’t get to see it last season at Liverpool. > > "We saw it at the World Cup but for Liverpool we didn't see it last season, so instead of him complaining about a new contract, go and show you deserve it through performances and the contract will come. > > "That will come because when you start putting up numbers and unfortunately it’s a numbers game now, Liverpool will be forced to look around and say no one can compete with these numbers. > > "They will look around and say no one else who's younger is giving me that so let's give another year or let's give another two years or whatever it may be that he wanted. You can complain but you've gotta go and do it as well."

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