Alexis Mac Allister

Alexis Mac Allister (born 24 December 1998) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool and the Argentina national team. He is known for his passing, shooting ability, and versatility.

Mac Allister started his senior career with Argentinos Juniors in 2016, winning the Argentine second division in his debut season. He joined Brighton & Hove Albion in 2019 but was immediately loaned back to them until the end of the season and later to rivals Boca Juniors, where he won the 2019–20 Primera División. Returning from the loan the following season, Mac Allister had his breakthrough year for Brighton, becoming a key player for the team, before moving to Liverpool in June 2023.

Mac Allister represented Argentina at under-23 level, winning the 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament and playing at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He made his senior international debut in 2019 and was part of the Argentina squads that won the 2022 Finalissima, 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2024 Copa América.

Early and personal life
Alexis Mac Allister was born on 24 December 1998 in Santa Rosa, La Pampa. Mac Allister's older brothers Francis and Kevin are also footballers. They are the sons of Carlos Mac Allister and nephews of Patricio Mac Allister, both retired footballers. Mac Allister is a family name originating from Scotland, although Mac Allister's more recent ancestry is of Irish descent. In a previous interview, he confirmed some of his ancestors arrived in Argentina from Ireland and stated that he is aware of links to Scotland. His ancestors can be traced to Donabate, in County Dublin, Ireland. He can also trace ancestry to Fife in Eastern Scotland. Mac Allister also has Italian ancestry through his maternal grandmother.

Argentinos Juniors
Like his two brothers, Mac Allister started his career with Club Social y Deportivo Parque before joining Argentinos Juniors' youth setup. He made his first-team debut on 30 October 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute for Iván Colman in a 0–0 Primera B Nacional home draw against Central Córdoba. Mac Allister scored his first goal on 10 March 2017, in a 2–1 away loss against Instituto. He contributed with three goals in 23 appearances during his first senior campaign, as his team achieved promotion to Primera División as champions. He made his debut in the latter category on 9 September, starting in a 2–1 loss at Patronato.

On 25 November 2017, Mac Allister and his two brothers all played together for the first time in a 1–0 loss at San Lorenzo; Alexis and Francis were starters, while Kevin came on as a substitute. He scored his first goal in the top tier on 5 March 2018, with the opener in a 2–0 home win over Boca Juniors.

2019–2020: Loans back to Argentina
On 24 January 2019, Mac Allister signed for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion on a four-and-a-half-year contract. As part of the deal, Mac Allister was loaned back to Argentinos Juniors for the remainder of the 2018–19 Premier League season. In June 2019, Boca Juniors completed the loan signing of Mac Allister, linking him up with brother Kevin, who had joined the club on loan six months prior. Mac Allister scored on his Boca debut, with the team's only goal in the first leg of a Copa Libertadores round of sixteen victory over Athletico Paranaense on 25 July. On 5 August, Mac Allister played his first league game for Boca as he came on as a substitute in a 2–0 away victory against Patronato. His loan at Boca was brought to an early end by Brighton on 31 January 2020.

2020–2022: Breakthrough and emergence
Mac Allister made his debut for Brighton as an 80th-minute substitute in a 0–0 draw away to Wolverhampton Wanderers on 7 March 2020. This match proved to be Brighton's last until the Premier League restart in June due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mac Allister played his first home game for Brighton where he came on as a substitute in a 2–1 victory over Arsenal on 20 June. He made his first start for Brighton three days later, in a 0–0 draw away against Leicester City, playing 58 minutes before being substituted. Mac Allister scored his first Brighton goal on 17 September 2020, with in a header in a 4–0 home victory over Portsmouth in the EFL Cup. He scored again six days later, this goal also coming in the EFL Cup where Brighton claimed a 2–0 away victory over Preston. On 18 October, Mac Allister scored his first Premier League goal scoring a 90th minute leveller in a 1–1 away draw against bitter rivals Crystal Palace.

Mac Allister scored the winner and his second-ever Premier League goal as Brighton fought back from a goal behind to beat Burnley 2–1 away on 14 August in the opening game of the 2021–22 season. He supplied assists to both of Aaron Connolly's goals on 22 September, in the 2–0 home victory over Swansea City in the EFL Cup third round. He later went off injured. Mac Allister scored his second goal of the season on 23 October, with an 81st-minute penalty in a 4–1 home defeat to Manchester City. He scored his first brace in a 3–2 away win over Everton on 2 January 2022, putting Brighton 1–0 up in the third minute, and putting them 3–1 up in the 71st with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Mac Allister provided Adam Webster's headed equaliser from a corner in a 1–1 home draw against the European champions, Chelsea, on 18 January.

2022–2023: Club talisman and European qualification


In Brighton's opening game of the 2022–23 season against Manchester United, Mac Allister scored an own goal in a 2–1 victory that saw Brighton claim their first ever win at Old Trafford. Two weeks later, Mac Allister scored from the penalty spot in the 2–0 away win over West Ham, and scored another penalty in a 2–1 defeat at Fulham. Mac Allister scored a brace including a third penalty in four games after having a goal ruled out by VAR in the 5–2 home win over Leicester. On 24 October, Mac Allister signed a new contract, committing him to Brighton until at least June 2025, with an option for an additional year.

He returned after his World Cup victory on 4 January 2023 in a 4–1 away victory over Everton, where he came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute. On 7 January, Mac Allister scored a brace in a 5–1 away win over EFL Championship team Middlesbrough in the third round of the 2022–23 FA Cup. On 14 January, his first return to Brighton's Falmer Stadium since the World Cup, Mac Allister wore his winner's medal as he walked out onto the pitch ahead of the match against Liverpool. Brighton went on to win the match 3–0. On 23 April, Brighton were eliminated from the FA Cup in a 7–6 penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United. On 4 May, Mac Allister scored a 99th-minute penalty winner against Manchester United to win the game for Brighton. After the end of the 2022–23 season, in which Brighton finished 6th and qualified for the Europa League and in which he was Brighton's top scorer with 10 goals, Mac Allister was heavily linked with a transfer to Liverpool. On 1 June, Mac Allister was voted as Brighton player of the season by users of BBC Sport.

Liverpool
On 8 June 2023, Mac Allister signed for Premier League club Liverpool on a five-year contract for an undisclosed transfer fee, reported to be an initial £35 million and a total of £55 million including add-on fees. On 13 August, he made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against Chelsea in the Premier League. On 19 August, Mac Allister received a red card for a foul against Ryan Christie during a Premier League home match against Bournemouth. The decision was criticised by analysts and fans,  with Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola also expressing concern with the decision. On 21 August, Liverpool announced that they were to appeal the red card in order to have it rescinded. It was announced on 22 August that the decision had been successfully appealed.

On 24 September 2023, Mac Allister provided his first competitive assist for Liverpool with a long clipped ball for Darwin Núñez in a 3–1 victory against West Ham United. On 5 October, he shared the pitch with his brother Kevin after the former came on as a substitute in the 46th minute in a Europa League group stage match against Union Saint-Gilloise. Mac Allister scored his first goal for Liverpool on 3 December in a 4–3 win over Fulham, with a shot 30 yards from the goal. The goal was later voted the Premier League Goal of the Month for December.

Youth career, senior debut, and 2020 Summer Olympics


Soon after debuting for Argentinos, Mac Allister received a call-up from Claudio Úbeda for the Argentina under-20s. He was selected for the senior team for the first time in August 2019, ahead of friendlies in the United States in September versus Chile and Mexico. His international bow arrived in the match with Chile at the Los Angeles Coliseum on 5 September.

On 1 July 2021, Mac Allister was named in the Argentine Olympic squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, taking place in 2021 due to the previous year's postponement as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He played in Argentina's opening game against Australia starting the match, playing 78 minutes of a 2–0 defeat at the Sapporo Dome in Sapporo on 22 July. He started the next two group games, a 1–0 victory over Egypt on 25 July again being played in the Sapporo Dome and a 1–1 draw with Spain on 28 July at the Saitman Stadium in Midori-ku, Saitama. Argentina were eliminated finishing third in their group on goal difference.

Recall into senior squad and tournament successes
Mac Allister was recalled to the Argentina national team's senior squad in January 2022 after two-and-a-half years since his first two caps. However, he tested positive for COVID-19 and missed Argentina's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Chile. He eventually made his first appearance for the national team for almost three years when he started in the 3–0 home win over Venezuela on 25 March. Five days later, in the draw with Ecuador he was forced off injured after being the victim of a knee-high challenge. Due to the subsequent injury, he was returned to Brighton ahead of their next fixture. On 1 June, Mac Allister was an unused substitute as Argentina beat Italy 3–0 in the 2022 Finalissima held at Wembley Stadium.

On 11 November, Mac Allister was named in Argentina's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the last group game against Poland on 30 November, he scored his first international goal to open the score line in an eventual 2–0 win, seeing Argentina through to the round of 16 as group winners. After Argentina made the final, Mac Allister started the match against defending champions France where he assisted Ángel Di María's goal to make the score 2–0. In the second half of extra time, Mac Allister was substituted before Argentina won the competition following a penalty shoot-out.

In June 2024, Mac Allister was called up to represent Argentina at the 2024 Copa América. He played in all but one of their matches and recorded two assists as they went on to win the tournament, defeating Colombia 1–0 in the final and earning Mac Allister his third senior international trophy in as many years.

International

 * Argentina score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mac Allister goal

Honours
Argentinos Juniors
 * Primera B Nacional: 2016–17

Boca Juniors
 * Primera División: 2019–20

Liverpool
 * EFL Cup: 2023–24

Argentina U23
 * CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament: 2020

Argentina
 * FIFA World Cup: 2022
 * Copa América: 2024
 * CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 2022

Individual
 * Premier League Goal of the Month: December 2023