Graeme Souness has wished Brighton & Hove Albion good luck keeping World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister. The Argentina ace is now a target for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Both north London rivals are enamoured with the midfielder after Mac Allister held a key role during Qatar 2022. Lionel Scaloni used the Seagulls star, who turned 24 on December 24, in six of La Albiceleste’s seven matches. He only watched their opening game on the bench.
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Mac Allister also scored once to help the South Americans beat Poland 2-0 and top Group C. While his pass to assist Angel Di Maria and hand Argentina a 2-0 lead over France in the final enthralled Souness. Mac Allister left the tie in extra time before the penalty shootout.
Souness adored how Mac Allister cut a no-look pass across the Bleus box to leave Di Maria one-vs-one with Hugo Lloris. The Brighton midfielder took one glance as Julian Alvarez sent the ball central from Lionel Messi’s flick. He could have tried to be the hero but was smart.
His World Cup successes followed Mac Allister producing a superb Premier League season with Brighton so far this term. The Santa Rosa native flew to the Middle East on the back of netting five goals in 14 games. He has started in each of the Seagull’s fixtures this season.
Arsenal or Tottenham have ‘little risk’ in a transfer for Brighton’s Mac Allister
Souness is confident that Mac Allister will now return to Brighton brimming with self-belief after his World Cup performances. The Liverpool icon is also full of praise for the 14-cap La Albiceleste star following his ‘wonderful’ pass to assist Di Maria in the final against France.
But he questions how much longer the Argentinos Juniors product will ply his trade at the Amex Stadium. Souness feels top clubs will now target Mac Allister amid claims of interest from Arsenal and Tottenham as the Brighton star proved he can deliver on the big stages.
“It is very easy to focus on how fabulous Messi was for Argentina,” he wrote in a Daily Mail column. “But in the games I covered, Mac Allister was their best player. The ball he played for their second goal in the final, for Angel Di Maria, was sublime.
“He’s a top-four player, and the big guys will be looking at him now and thinking: ‘We’ll have some of that’. He has proven he can play at the highest level and has already done it in the Premier League. There is very little risk attached to this boy.
“He can create, score and works his socks off – that type of player, they are hard to find. At 23 [now 24], Brighton won’t be able to keep him for long and good luck trying to negotiate a new contract. I’m just disappointed he’s not playing for Scotland with a name like that!”
Conte has told Spurs to target the Argentina ace but Arteta wants him at Arsenal
Well, according to CalcioMercatoWeb, Antonio Conte has already told Tottenham to agree a transfer with Brighton for Mac Allister. The Italian wants Spurs to beat out interest from two of his former teams, Juventus and Inter Milan, who have also been exploring his services.
The Seagulls will want far more than the £7m they paid Argentinos Juniors in January 2019 to sell him, though. His World Cup successes have seen Brighton slap a €35m (£31m) price tag on Mac Allister. Yet Conte has told Tottenham that he wants a deal as soon as January.
Tottenham will also have to battle interest from their fierce rivals, Arsenal, to secure Mac Allister’s transfer from Brighton. The Argentinean edition of AS reports that the Gunners and Atletico Madrid have also both shown an interest in prising the midfielder away in 2023.
Going by Souness’ praise for the Argentina star, Arsenal and Tottenham would not regret making Brighton ace Mac Allister a transfer target in January after winning the World Cup.
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