Journalist Graeme Bailey has claimed that Manchester City could have rivalled Liverpool for the signing of Alexis Mac Allister.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the Merseyside club have agreed a fee of between £45m-£55m to sign the midfielder from Brighton & Hove Albion, with an official announcement on the way.
With that in mind, one journalist has suggested that due to Liverpool apparently triggering a clause in the Argentine’s contract, City could have got themselves involved in the matter.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Talking Transfers podcast, Bailey said this on the situation.
He said: “I think there was only, from what I’m told, there was only City who could have challenged them for this, but City have gone for [Mateo] Kovacic, [Jude] Bellingham didn’t happen so [Kalvin] Phillips hasn’t gone yet.
“So, I think with City not pushing hard on him, I think Liverpool was his first choice.”
Mac Allister’s impressive season
The latest Premier League campaign saw the 24-year-old score 10 goals across 35 appearances, playing in the defensive, central and attacking midfield roles.
In fact, as well as his versatility and usefulness in front of goal, only four other players in the division ended the season with more tackles won in the midfield third of the pitch than him (40).
In addition to that, Mac Allister ended Argentina’s World Cup campaign in Qatar as their third-highest rated player based on performances in the tournament according to WhoScored with an overall rating of 7.11/10.
With all of that in mind, and the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s side have said goodbye to James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita recently, it’s easy to see why they have pursued a move for the Argentina international.
Much to Liverpool’s presumed delight, it’s probably lucky for them that City didn’t get involved in trying to land a deal for Mac Allister, as their inclusion in next season’s Champions League and the opportunity to work with Pep Guardiola could have swayed the midfielder into making a move to the Etihad Stadium.
