Adam Lallana recently delivered a glowing appraisal of his Brighton & Hove Albion team-mate Alexis Mac Allister, with the Argentine's move to Liverpool now edging closer to completion.
As reported by the ECHO on Monday, Liverpool are hopeful of finalising a deal for the 2022 World Cup winner before he joins up with his international team-mates next week, with talks between Anfield officials and their counterparts on the South Coast having taken place in recent days. It is also believed that the player's agent and representatives recently flew to England to set the seal on a deal to bring Mac Allister to Merseyside.
The expected exit of the 24-year-old will be a blow to Brighton who recently qualified for Europe for the first time in their history after finishing the Premier League season in sixth place. It is also probable that long-time Arsenal and Chelsea target Moises Caicedo leaves the Amex this summer.
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And as the Reds' move for the midfielder progresses, an interview with Lallana, who spent six years at Anfield and won both the Champions League and Premier League, waxing lyrical over the Argentine World Cup winner has come back to prominence on social media.
Speaking to Graham Hunter on The Big Interview podcast in January, Lallana, asked about Mac Allister's exponential rise, said: "Alexis, what a special player and a special, special person. It took him a little time to settle. Learning the language. His English is incredible now and he's picked it up. He's a player that is so pure in how he plays. The way he lends the football, he uses others. There's no selfishness at all in the way he plays.
"It was so special watching him during the World Cup. Not playing to begin with and then him getting used; proving himself; and then playing so well that there's no way this guy doesn't play; and then at the end to see Messi looking for him. Like Messi was looking for him to link, to play.
"Alexis' role was to almost mirror where Messi was. Whether Messi was deep, he would take high positions. If Messi was high, he would drop. That just shows how much he understands - his football intelligence. Ok, he's not the quickest or the strongest but up here [points to his head] he's like [Luka] Modric. He's not the quickest or the strongest, but he's so smart. He knows that the football is faster than anyone, [or] anything."
He added: "He had to battle tough moments here [Brighton] in the beginning. Coming over in lockdown; adapting to the culture and the language. He's a very introverted, shy guy. I always went out of my way to make sure he was ok because I know he was such a wonderful person. He just needed time. Sometimes you just need time to adapt to your surroundings: the sh**** weather, Brighton, the language, the league, the relentlessness of the league.
"The reception he got here from everyone when he came back [from winning the World Cup] was incredible."
The 35-year-old midfielder left Liverpool in July 2020 upon the expiration of his contract and has been team-mates since with Mac Allister since moving to the Amex later that month.
At the heartbeat of Jurgen Klopp's early Liverpool side in 2016/17, Lallana knows exactly what it takes to succeed under the German. The resurfacing of his comments come at the perfect time as Liverpool and Brighton work to finalise a deal for Mac Allister in the coming weeks.
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