Brighton and Hove Albion have needed a goalscoring midfielder ever since gaining promotion to the Premier League in 2017. Now they have one in the shape of the South Coast Messi.
Alex Mac Allister’s two goals in Brighton’s 3-2 win at Everton on Sunday highlighted the ability of the Argentinian, who has a fair amount in common with his iconic compatriot and international colleague.
He has the same number shirt, No 10, worn by Lionel Messi for most of his career. He’s also a bit of a doppelganger for the former Barcelona superstar with the magic feet.
Messi has always been an automatic pick wherever he’s played, such is the scale of his talent. That hasn’t been the way of it for Mac Allister at the Amex Stadium.
He’s made the same number of top-flight substitute appearances (22) as starts (22) since an £8 million move from Argentinos Juniors in the January 2019 transfer window.
Mac Allister was loaned back to Argentinos, then to his boyhood idols Boca Juniors, before making his Brighton debut at Wolves in March 2020, the final fixture before COVID-19 led to a Premier League lockdown for 15 weeks.
He’s been unfortunate that his period at the club has coincided with the disruptive pandemic but, after a few false starts, this could be his big breakthrough.
Mac Allister has scored four goals in 14 Premier League outings this season compared to one in 30 appearances across the previous two campaigns.
Head coach Graham Potter has turned to him in the last three matches in succession.