“Physically not up to the task” – Player makes Brighton admission, had to work hard to catch up

Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has revealed he had to lock himself in a gym and work on his fitness to ensure he was a success at former club Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Argentine has been speaking to La Nacion in Argentina following a big year for him that saw him win the World Cup before securing a big move to Anfield in the summer transfer window.

The latter was the latest step in a rapid rise for the player, who has gone from life in Argentina to playing for one of the biggest sides in Europe in the space of four years.

He initially joined Brighton for €8m in January 2019 before spending the rest of that season back on loan with Argentinos Juniors and then the first half of the following season with Boca Juniors.

Brighton brought him back to the club in January 2020 and he soon found himself as a first-team regular, going on to make 112 appearances for the club before his move to Merseyside this summer.

It was no smooth ride to proving himself for the Seagulls, though, with him largely making substitute appearances across his first two campaigns before really beginning to establish himself in the 2021/22 season.

Mac Allister has now spoken about that, revealing he had to spend months in the gym on his own to get up to the physical level required in England.

“In reference to my evolution as a player, I think I have improved a lot physically,” he said.

“The Premier League, if not the most physical league, is close. And well, from the first moment I arrived in Brighton, without a doubt it was one of the things I had the most difficulty with.

“I have always struggled a lot and the first year at Brighton did not go in the best way, it did not go as I expected or as I wanted and it was a moment in which, as always, the support of my family was very important.

“I had to lock myself in a gym and work twice as hard to keep up. I knew that I had the qualities to be able to play in the Premier League, but physically I was not up to the task.

“It was bad because it’s not nice not to play or be away from your family and not be able to do what you like.

“But at the same time, it helped me a lot to learn, to realise that you always have to give a little more and be better. So it was, I would tell you, the most difficult time, but also the time in which I learned the most.”