Alexis Mac Allister was in tears on the pitch as he finished likely his final game for Brighton, with a move to Liverpool now expected this summer.
Already guaranteed sixth, Brighton played out a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday to hand their opponents a spot in the Europa Conference League.
Though they failed to pick up the points, it concluded a remarkable season for the Seagulls and their manager, Roberto De Zerbi.
Despite their progress into the Europa League, Brighton‘s model remains to sell their star players for the right price – including Mac Allister.
The Argentine was clearly emotional on full-time at Villa Park, applauding the travelling fans and being consoled by De Zerbi and captain Lewis Dunk.
Alexis Mac Allister was reduced to tears at the end of the Brighton game today. ? pic.twitter.com/P4xq4ByxTg
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 28, 2023
According to TyC Sports journalist Gaston Edul, this comes as “Anfield awaits,” with colleague German Garcia Grova adding that the player and his father are “finalising” a €70 million (£60.8m) switch to Liverpool.
It now seems an open secret that Mac Allister will be joining Jurgen Klopp‘s side, not least due to frequent admissions from De Zerbi over his future.
Speaking after the 2-1 loss at Villa, as relayed by The Athletic, the manager admitted that both Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo are likely to move on.
“Yes, I think it can be the last game for Alexis and Moises Caicedo,” he said.
“I am really sorry because they are two great people and two great players but the policy of Brighton is like this.
“It is right that they can leave, they can play at a higher level.”
On Mac Allister he added: “People believe Alexis is a fantastic player, but as a man he is better than the player.
“I’m really sorry if we lose him, if we lose Moises Caicedo, but players like this deserve to play at another level, another level in terms of competition, in terms of importance of the club, prestige of the club.”
The 24-year-old is believed to have agreed a five-year contract with Liverpool worth around £100,000 a week, with the option of a further 12 months built in.
He is set to become the first signing of the summer at Anfield, with Klopp explaining in his own post-match press conference that “a really busy period hopefully starts now.”
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