Alexis Mac Allister's agent will arrive in England next week with Liverpool's attempts to sign the Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder "well advanced."
That's the claim being made by Argentine journalist César Luis Merlo, who has given his 252,000 Twitter followers an update on the Reds' pursuit of the World Cup winner.
Liverpool have earmarked Mac Allister as one of their primary targets for the summer transfer window. But earlier this week we reported that they are facing competition from both Manchester City and Manchester United for the 24-year-old, who starred for Argentina in their World Cup victory in Qatar.
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But the new report suggests the Reds are in the driving seat for Mac Allister, whose agent is also his father. Luis Merlo tweeted: "Alexis Mac Allister's arrival in Liverpool comes at a key moment: everything is well advanced and next week his father and agent will travel to England.
"The contractual offer is up to 2028 and it remains to finish accelerating and close the exit with Brighton."
Anfield sources distanced themselves from suggestions last weekend that personal terms with Mac Allister had been agreed. And the emergence of City's interest seemed to be an indication that the Brighton star's long-term future has yet to be resolved as he gets set to end his historic campaign away to Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Seagulls' 1-1 draw at home to Man City on Wednesday ensured they will, like Liverpool, be playing Europa League football next season.
After the match, Mac Allister was embraced by City manager Pep Guardiola, while the home fans made their feelings known as they repeatedly sang, 'we want you to stay, Alexis Mac Allister, we want you to stay'.
Speaking ahead of the game, Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi addressed the ongoing speculation. He said: "They can have the possibility to change [clubs] because they deserve to play in another level. I don't know what Tony [Bloom, Brighton owner] can decide.
"Now we can offer them the possibility to play in Europe because our level is bigger now. We can offer them one possibility more.
"When I work, I think for myself, I think for my club - but I think still for the players. The players have one career, one life and we can't decide for them."
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