Manchester United and Liverpool are “bidding the most” for Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister while Arsenal are also monitoring his situation, according to journalist Cesar Luis Merlo.
The Super Deportivo journalist says that the Argentine midfielder will “surely” leave Brighton in the summer transfer window with Man Utd and Liverpool seemingly leading the race.
Fabrizio Romano recently shared on Twitter that it is “100% guaranteed” that the South American’s representatives will push for a move early in the summer window.
CBS journalist Ben Jacobs reported this month that Arsenal could also join the race for the 24-year-old. Merlo says that while the Gunners are monitoring his situation, nothing is advanced yet.
“Manchester United and Liverpool are the clubs that are bidding the most to stay with Alexis Mac Allister, who will surely leave Brighton in the middle of the year. Arsenal is monitoring him, but he is not advancing firmly for now. What is done will be with the consensus of his current club,” wrote Merlo on Twitter.
The versatile midfielder has a contract at Brighton until 2025, and the South Coast club have the option to extend the deal for another year. Football Insider recently claimed that it would take a fee of around £70m to lure him away from the Amex Stadium.
Several Premier League clubs have been targeting Moises Caicedo as well, but Brighton won’t be willing to sell two of their star players in one window. It appears Liverpool and Man Utd are pushing Brighton to sell Mac Allister while Arsenal are also watching from the sidelines, so we could see a bidding war between the trio.
Advantage Liverpool?
It comes as a real surprise that the Red Devils are making moves already for Mac Allister. Eric ten Hag could look to bolster his midfield but they have other priorities at the moment.
Signing a world-class striker is top of their priority list while the Dutchman will need to sign at least two to three defenders next summer. However, with Scott McTominay likely to leave, Man Utd may be looking to find his replacement with Mac Allister a target.
Liverpool’s situation is different. They have to sign as many as three midfielders in the summer, and after missing out on Jude Bellingham, they are under huge pressure to secure their other targets over the coming weeks.
Mac Allister is a dynamic midfielder and can perform a lot of roles in the middle of the park. He can be used as a defensive midfielder, a traditional box-to-box central midfielder, a left-sided midfielder, or an attacking midfielder, and we all know Jurgen Klopp loves versatile players in his squad.
He will be an upgrade over the likes of Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but whether the Reds can lure him to move to Anfield without Champions League football (which seems most likely at this stage) remains to be seen.
Arsenal cannot be ruled out either as Mikel Arteta is in the market for another midfielder. The Gunners have been strongly linked with Declan Rice and Caicedo, but they could turn to Mac Allister if they can’t agree deals for their prime targets.
