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Manchester United and Manchester City have both ‘internally discussed’ the signing of Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, according to Ben Jacobs.
Brighton are absolutely flying this season under Roberto De Zerbi and are making an unexpected push for European football.
Unfortunately for them, doing well means the so-called ‘big six’ will be circling their best players like sharks.
It happened in 2021 with Ben White. It happened last summer with Marc Cucurella. It happened in January with Moises Caicedo. And it is expected to happen with several stars at the end of the season.
What Brighton are very good at is receiving superb fees for said players.
The Seagulls raked in around £110million for White and Cucurella and stood firm in the winter window, rejecting a £70m bid from Arsenal for Caicedo.
Mikel Arteta’s side signed Jorginho instead and have reportedly identified West Ham’s Declan Rice as their number-one summer target in midfield, meaning they probably will not pursue the Ecuadorian again.
However, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are all interested in Caicedo and .
Two other players who might be the subject of summer interest are Mac Allister and winger Kaoru Mitoma.
Brighton’s outstanding track record of signing unknown quantities and turning them into £50m+ footballers is ridiculous, and you just know they will replace any future departures ludicrously well.
Mac Allister is more likely to leave than Mitoma given so many clubs need a new midfielder.
Liverpool are expected to sign at least two midfield players in the summer with Jude Bellingham their top target.
They are also being linked with Rice, Mac Allister, Caicedo, Chelsea’s Mason Mount, and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Manu Kone.
It is Manchester United and Manchester City who seem to be a bit more advanced in their pursuit of the Argentina international.
They have at least ‘discussed’ the player ‘internally’ ahead of the summer window.
Jacobs believes Brighton would ‘expect’ the same sort of fee they received for Cucurella (£60m+).
Mac Allister will wait until the end of the campaign to ‘assess his options’, though he does ‘prioritise’ playing in the Champions League. Who knows? Brighton could be there next season…
Qualification for continental football could really strengthen Brighton’s hand with this not ruling out the possibility of keeping hold of both Caicedo and Mac Allister.
Mac Allister starred for Argentina when they won the World Cup in 2022 and has eight goals in 23 matches across all competitions for Brighton this term.
