After a phenomenal World Cup campaign, Arsenal have reportedly set their sights on Brighton star and Lionel Messi‘s Argentinian teammate, Alexis Mac Allister.
Spanish outlet AS reported this week that the Gunners are battling Atletico Madrid for his signature in the January transfer window, with Mikel Arteta keen to bolster our midfield ahead of the second half of the season.
How Lionel Messi jumped into Arsenal target Alexis Mac Allister’s defence during Argentina training
Nobody really expected a Brighton player to be a World Cup winner, but Mac Allister played a huge part in helping Argentina win the competition in Qatar this month.
The Seagulls star only has 14 caps for Argentina, six of which came in this year’s World Cup. He made his international debut back in 2019 as a 20-year-old, but he faced a few difficulties in training early on.
Mac Allister revealed in an interview that many of his Argentinian teammates called him ‘Colo,’ which translates to ‘ginger’. The midfielder claimed he didn’t like that one bit, and it was Messi who leapt into his defence and ordered everyone to stop calling him that.
The Brighton man told The Athletic: “I trained with him (Messi) when I was in the Argentinian squad twice, but I didn’t play with him. It was fantastic, the same as in the matches he trains. It’s something you cannot believe.
“I remember everyone called me ‘Colo’, which is ginger in Argentina. I don’t like it much and he told the teammates that. He said: ‘He doesn’t like to be called Colo, so don’t call him that!’.”
When Messi says something, people listen, and that’s exactly what happened.
The Insider’s View:
Mac Allister started every game for Argentina at the World Cup.
The Brighton man, still only 23, was brilliant more often than not, and his heat map shows that he was absolutely everywhere for the Albiceleste. It’s no surprise at all that he’s a wanted man now.
Since joining Brighton in January 2020, Mac Allister has played 86 times for the Seagulls. He knows the Premier League very well now, and it’s only a matter before he’s snapped up by a top club.
Arsenal do need a new man in the middle of the park and Mac Allister ticks a lot of boxes. However, Brighton will surely demand a lot of money to let him go after his World Cup heroics alongside Messi.
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