Mac Allister could be the signing of season at just £35m, writes LEWIS STEELE
In a world where his former midfield partner Moises Caicedo went to Chelsea for £115million and Argentina colleague Enzo Fernandez moved to the same club for a mega £107m, Alexis Mac Allister at a paltry £35m could be the signing of the season.
He might not get the headlines of Mohamed Salah or front up Manhattan billboards alongside basketball icon LeBron James like Virgil van Dijk, but the Argentine is the magician driving Liverpool’s quest for a record-matching 20th English league title.
This was the fifth Liverpool match in a row where his metronomical midfield displays have yielded a goal or assist, starting with that 99th-minute defence-spliting pass at Nottingham Forest and ending here with a similar eye-of-the-needle assist for Mohamed Salah.
Until then, his old team were going toe to toe with Liverpool. Maybe not in terms of shots or chances created, but there were times when Brighton caused waves of anxiety to take over Anfield in a match that was dubbed by some as an audition for Roberto De Zerbi.
But by the end, every single punter in the stadium was toasting to Mac Allister, be it the Kop giving him a rousing ovation or those in the away end who still adore him. The feeling is reciprocated, with the Argentine making a point to go over to the Albion faithful at full time.
De Zerbi said before the match that Mac Allister was a ‘special guy’ for the way he handled his Amex Stadium exit, before firing an indirect dig at ‘others who did not’ - cough, Caicedo, cough - with Jurgen Klopp also hailing him as a ‘difference maker’.
And he was just that here, with a lovely caressed pass into the path of Salah to score the winning goal. That was one of 12 shots for Salah on a day where he could have easily racked up a
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