Lionel Messi left Alexis Mac Allister ‘shaking’ after Liverpool target exchange

What a year it has been for Alexis Mac Allister.

Just 12 months ago, the 24-year-old was a relative unknown. In fairness, he had helped Brighton place ninth in the Premier League – their highest-ever finish – but few expected global superstardom from the Santa Rosa native.

Fast forward to the present and few football fans are unaware of the Argentinian maestro. Mac Allister has emerged as one of the top flight’s standout midfielders, helping the Seagulls improve on last season, going on to finish sixth – securing European football for the first time in the club’s history.

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A self-confessed introvert, Mac Allister’s form has slapped him directly on Liverpool’s radar, with Jurgen Klopp poised to complete a £70million deal for the midfielder in the coming weeks.

But it was his heroics for Argentina which catapulted Mac Allister from also-ran to superstar.

Drafted in after the opening-day humiliation against Saudi Arabia, the midfield star started the remaining six fixtures as La Albiceleste lifted the World Cup for the first time in 36 years. Not since the days of Diego Maradona had Argentina held football’s greatest prize aloft – and Mac Allister was front and centre of it all.

The pre-tournament talk centred around Lionel Messi and the trophy that eluded him throughout his 20-year career. After tasting defeat in the 2014 final, the superstar forward rolled back the years, looking like a man on a mission to etch his name in history.

However, where Sergio Aguero and Javier Mascherano failed nine years ago, it was Mac Allister and Co who helped him get over the line. A goal and an assist at the World Cup may appear modest but the Brighton man proved the unsung hero, running himself into the ground to compensate for Messi’s fading off-the-ball worth ethic.

Securing glory propelled Mac Allister on the world stage – and added a few pound notes to his price tag. Had Liverpool been prudent in their transfer policy, they may have landed their man for a snippet last summer, when rival eyes preyed on Seagulls teammates Marc Cucurella or Yves Bissouma.

Victory also made Messi, now immortalised among the pantheon of footballing gods, his brother in arms. But that was not always the case.

For Argentines, the 35-year-old is an eulogised figure. While Mac Allister may be a professional in his own right, that did not make him any different.

Speaking ahead of the World Cup, the £70million-rated midfielder recounted the first time he met Messi following an Argentina call-up in November 2019. Still just 20, Mac Allister admitted he was “shaking” before meeting the national icon.

“I was so nervous, my hands were shaking,” he told CNN. “I’m a really shy guy, so yeah, I was really nervous. But then you realise how humble he is. At that moment, I was playing at Boca Juniors, so we had arrived from Argentina to [play] I think it was Spain for a friendly.

“And we arrived, and he was having dinner. I went to the table and said hello with my hands shaking. I was sweating. But it was an amazing moment. He’s my idol. He’s the best football player in the world.”

Mac Allister – of Gaelic heritage – also opened up about how Messi stuck up for him when his international teammates gave him a derogatory nickname. The midfielder added: “I don’t like it much and he told the teammates that. He (Messi) said, ‘He doesn’t like to be called Colo, so don’t call him that!’.”

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