As the season draws to a close, the transfer window is about to open, and all the big players are on the market. England's rising star Bellingham seems to have made a name for himself as Liverpool, who chased him, set their sights on other players as Brighton midfielder and World Cup winner Alexis McAllister came into view.
The 24-year-old was an unremarkable newcomer to football a few years ago, but in the last year he has been on a rocket, and has become the focus of the world's attention in both the club and the national team, and his worth has soared from 10 million euros to 42 million euros in one year.
An important change in the fact that McAllister has been a core midfielder in the midfield, and he has scored double goals in the league this season, whether it is the organization of positional battles or dribbling during conversions, which is the most critical part of the Seagulls' attack.
In the national team, McAllister's rise has some luck factors. On the eve of the World Cup, Argentina's national team player Lo Celso was seriously injured and could not play, which gave McAllister more opportunities. Because his size and way of playing on the field are very similar to Messi, many fans refer to him as "Standard Definition Messi".
In fact, McAllister's idol is also Messi, who once told a story about his first entry into the Argentine national team: his teammates gave him the nickname "Colo", a word derived from "colorado", which means red, because McAllister's hair color is reddish. He himself didn't like the nickname, but as a newcomer it was difficult to say, until Messi found out about the situation and made his teammates stop calling him that. When it comes to this, McAllister will still have a smile on his face and crimson cheeks just like when he first met Messi.
However, the nickname "Colo" given to McAllister by his Argentine teammates is not a no-brainer discrimination, as his father, Carlos Javier McAllister, was also an Argentine international and was originally nicknamed "Colo".
Alexis McAllister was born into a football family, his father and the elder Bernard Carlos Patricio McAllister were both professional footballers, and the two retired to co-founded the McAllister Football Academy, where Alexis McAllister and his two older brothers began their football careers and eventually embarked on a professional path.
Carlos Javier McAllister is also famous in Argentina. In 1993, Maradona left the national team after leading the team to win the European and American Champions Cup, but Argentina led by Batistuta, Canigia and others did not perform well and needed to compete for a World Cup place through the play-offs.
McAllister, who was the best of Argentina's full-backs, was called up for the first time and made his international debut against Australia. In the two-legged match, the elder McAllister played the whole game, helping the team enter the World Cup with the returning Maradona, which led to the mixed 1994 World Cup in the United States, and the two formed a deep friendship at that time. Unfortunately, the elder McAllister was controversially selected for Argentina's World Cup roster and has not been selected for the national team since.
Nearly 30 years later, Alexis McAllister is also on the verge of being called, and he has not lived up to the expectations of the manager and teammates, successfully supporting the Pampas Eagles midfield and becoming one of the best helpers around Messi. The story of father and son being appointed to assist two generations of ball kings has also become a beautiful story.
As the "second generation of stars", McAllister's growth path is indispensable to the influence of his father, but he has not received any special help. After learning to play, he followed in the footsteps of his two older brothers early on and left home to join a club called Club Social y Deportivo Parque to start playing in junior competitions, a well-deserved cradle of superstars that produced the likes of Maradona, Tevez and Riquelme.
Soon after, McAllister, like the rest of the family, entered the youth academy of Argentineans, with his father acting as a scout, reporting to the European club through his connections.
In the first half of 2016, McAllister's two older brothers made their first-team debuts, but neither of them could prevent the team from being relegated. In the second half of the year, the 17-year-old McAllister made his first-team debut in the second half of the year, and all five of the family made their professional debut at the same club.
McAllister then established himself in the team, entered the rotation and became an absolute regular in the second half of the season, playing 24 league games that season, scoring three goals and helping the Argentine youth return to the top flight as champions of the second division with his two older brothers. Also in the second half of 2016, the 17-year-old McAllister jumped to the Argentina U20 team and made his debut.
In the 17-18 season, McAllister became the core of the team, scoring two goals and providing six assists in 25 league games. Such performances attracted a lot of attention, perhaps because of his father's scouting intelligence, and European clubs also set their sights on it.
In the summer window before the 18-19 season, Boca Juniors wanted to sign McAllister, but the €8.5 million transfer fee dissuaded the Argentine giants from leaving. This season, due to the impact of participating in continental competitions, the Argentine youth underperformed and fell into the relegation zone, and Premier League team Brighton took the opportunity to wave 8 million euros and successfully signed McAllister. Both teams were fighting for relegation, with Brighton unable to give enough playing time, the Argentine youngsters needing help, and McAllister unable to obtain a British visa, so he was loaned back for half a season.
Despite his excellent performances, McAllister failed to help the Argentine youth relegate and did not obtain a British visa, despite his excellent performances. But instead of renewing the relegated youngster's loan, Brighton accepted Boca's loan offer. McAllister then played with Boca in the Copa Libertadores and the Primera División, and his outstanding performance finally caught Scaloni's attention. In the second half of 2019, McAllister made his national team debut, which significantly changed the trajectory of his career.
Benefiting from the national team appearance, McAllister finally met the criteria and could obtain a UK visa. However, Boca was fighting for the title and Brighton were still struggling for relegation, but if he was not recalled in the winter window, McAllister may no longer meet the conditions and need to reapply for a visa. The Seagulls decided to take the plunge by having McAllister join the team and handing the number 10 jersey directly to the under-21-year-old.
After joining Brighton, McAllister made his debut as a substitute in Game 5, but unfortunately the Premier League was subsequently suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, with his father's care at that time, McAllister was able to survive a somewhat lonely 3 months. But also because of this time, McAllister has had more time to integrate into the team, and Brighton boss Porter is also familiar with his personal characteristics and the way he plays.
With the Premier League restarting at the end of June, Brighton faced rivals Arsenal in a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes, and McAllister came off the bench in the fourth minute of stoppage time, and fans thought it was just a time-stalling substitution. A minute later, Connolly assisted Mo Pai with the ball on his back, and this attack was initiated by McAllister's diagonal delivery on the wing.
In the next game, McAllister, who created the lore, naturally entered the starting lineup. He has since been a regular rotation and helped the team complete relegation. As a midfielder, McAllister's creativity, dribbling and passing skills, ability to create kills in the middle, movement on the wing, and a positive willingness to defend are traits that Brighton manager Porter loves immensely.
McAllister played with Argentina at the Olympics before the 20-21 season, returned to the team and contracted the new crown while competing for the main position, missing many opportunities. After half a season of adjustment, he was once given the starting position, but was later taken due to poor results. In the following 21-22 season, Brighton further signings, the team's overall offensive and defensive system gradually took shape, McAllister finally locked the main position in the midfield after ups and downs, helping the team squeeze into the top half of the league table. Porter moved to the Blues this season, with Dezelby further establishing McAllister as the tactical centerpiece, and Argentina achieved a single-season goal double-double for the first time in his career.
With his performance at Brighton, McAllister was given the opportunity to return to the Argentine national team and, like along the way, he took every opportunity. McAllister went off the bench for the first game as a spectator before he was brought into the starting line-up, averaging 92.5 minutes in six World Cup matches. Like his father, he helped Argentina eliminate Australia, except that McAllister followed the team to the end and won the title as a workhorse.
From the wonderful performance of the World Cup contribution to the league becoming the thigh of the team, it has fully proved the strength of McAllister, and Liverpool's recruitment target is targeting him, and I am afraid that he will face fierce competition. Although he is just 24 years old, McAllister's achievements are not only beyond the reach of his two older brothers, but also far beyond his parents' generation. When Messi retires, McAllister will hopefully succeed as Argentina's new nucleus, and if the Reds do sign him, the alternation of old and new in midfield can probably be declared largely successful.