When Brighton completed the signing of Alexis Mac Allister in a US$9m deal back in January, they probably had no idea of how weird the situation would get in the coming months.
Since the midfielder didn’t hold an EU passport, he was kept at his club Argentinos Juniors on a six-month loan, and was supposed to be moving to England this summer.
But it turns out that the player still couldn’t get the documentation, and since he’s been impressing a lot in the Argentine league, there’s now a long of list of clubs who want to sign him.
Newspaper Olé brings a front page story today saying there are six sides who would like to have Mac Allister on a loan deal from Brighton. These would be Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Independiente, San Lorenzo, Estudiantes and Racing.
It’s claimed that if Brighton decide to loan him out for only six months, then he’s staying at Argentinos Juniors. In case the spell is longer, then the other five sides would stand a chance.
Alexis’ dad, Carlos Mac Allister, has spoken to the local press this week, and explained all of the situation. He’s a former Boca Juniors player and has two other sons who are professional footballers, so he’s pretty experienced to handle the situation.
“The problem is that he still doesn’t have a community passport and we think that the process, which we haven’t started yet, may take a year. He can continue in Argentina or anywhere in the world, but here he’s wanted by Independiente, Boca, Estudiantes and San Lorenzo,” he said (via El Intransigente).
“We gave the word to Argentinos Juniors that if Brighton wanted to loan him for only six months he would stay because it’s his home, and for six months it doesn’t seem good for him to leave.”
Alexis himself has also made his comments: “Several clubs have been in touch. We are evaluating the options and we have to talk to Brighton to see what they think and what the possibilities are. If they give me a year, we’ll start having talks with the clubs to see which is the best option.”
“It’s a pride that these teams are interested in me, I know I won it. I am very calm, waiting for more options, but it’s very nice that so many teams pay attention to me.”
