Manchester United like Brighton’s Premier League playmaker Alexis Mac Allister and his agent believes there is a high chance the World Cup winner will be on the move this summer.
Believe it or not, Brighton and Hove Albion managed to snap up Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo, Pascal Gross and Kaoru Mitoma for a combined fee in the region of £15 million. If the Amex outfit ever delve into the financial adviser racket, their phone will be ringing off the hook.
And, after making substantial profits from the likes of Marc Cucurella and Leandro Trossard, anyone hoping to lure Mac Allister away from the South Coast will have to pay a damn sight more than the £7 million fee Brighton forked over when signing the then-little-known midfielder from Argentinos Juniors four years ago.
Manchester United, Argentine reporter Cesar Luis Merlo tweets, have a ‘specific interest’ in a man now valued in the region of £60 million.
Brighton CEO Paul Barber is determined to retain the services of one of the Premier League’s most complete central midfielders; Mac Allister’s reputation rising as quickly as his price-tag following Argentina’s triumph at the Qatar World Cup.
Barber, however, may be fighting a losing battle. Fabrizio Romano reports United have been in contact with his agent.
Manchester United like Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister
“Normally, the next transfer window will see him playing for another club,” Mac Allister’s father and agent tells PuroBoca.
“We don’t know which one. The talks are just beginning in general. But it is most likely that Alexis will already be playing for another team next July.”
Imagine, for a second, that you commission a fleet of world-leading scientists to design the perfect Erik ten Hag midfielder. The prototype would look something like Alexis Mac Allister. Few players in the game can claim to have quite so many strings on their bow. Brighton’s number ten is a ball-player and a ball-winner rolled into one. A destructor and a distributor. Tenacious yet highly-technical.
While scoring 10 goals in all competitions, including eight in the Premier League, Mac Allister also averages the same amount of successful tackles per game as West Ham’s Declan Rice. More, WhoScored report, than Rodri and John McGinn. Man United’s own Lisandro Martinez.
“He’s a very intelligent player,” Argentine icon Sergio Aguero tells ESPN of a man who kick-started the Albiceleste’s World Cup campaign with a group-stage goal vs Mexico. “He positions himself, waits for his moment.”
Mac Allister, should he arrive at Old Trafford, could provide a link between Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro. A younger, faster, high-pressing alternative to Christian Eriksen. Some much-needed depth to a rather thin midfield.
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