Romano quashes Man City hijack claim as ‘final details’ remain for £70m Liverpool transfer

Fabrizio Romano has dismissed claims Manchester City have entered the race for Brighton star Alexis Mac Allister, insisting just the ‘final details’ remain for Liverpool to complete the £70m transfer of the 24-year-old.

Mac Allister’s father and agent claimed his son was “most likely” to leave the Amex Stadium this summer despite having another two years to run on his current deal, and multiple reports suggest he’s destined for Liverpool.

TYC Sports claimed over the weekend that Mac Allister ‘will leave Brighton for a fortune’ and a ‘deal is complete’ to move to Liverpool this summer with the 24-year-old signing a ‘multi-year deal’.

Fabrizio Romano said it wasn’t done yet despite an agreement on personal terms being ‘close’, with Liverpool wanting to ‘resolve the deal as soon as possible to avoid competition’.

And a report earlier on Monday claimed that competition arrived in the form of Manchester City, with the Premier League champions and treble-chasers making Mac Allister one of their four summer targets, according to Express.

The report stated ‘City are hoping the lure of Champions League football will prove decisive for Mac Allister and his representatives’, with Liverpool set for the Europa League.

Fellow Brighton star Julio Enciso is also among the City targets, along with Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich and RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol.

But Romano has quickly dismissed those claims, reiterating that Liverpool are in the driving seat to complete a £70m deal for the playmaker, with just the ‘final details’ of his contract left to be ironed out.

Romano tweeted: ‘Manchester City are not in the race for Alexis Mac Allister at this stage. No talks or concrete contacts. Liverpool are close to full agreement on personal terms with the player, waiting on final details.’

Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, who has led the Seagulls into Europe for the first time, admits they will lose some big players like Mac Allister this summer, but believes “it’s right” they should move on to bigger and better things.

De Zerbi said: “Now we have to organise, we have to build a new squad. We have to organise the new season. We have to finish before, OK, but then we have to organise and we have to build a new squad.

“I think we don’t need too many players but we have to compete in the Europa League. We have to compete in the Premier League because it will be tougher for sure for us.

“I think we will lose some big players, but it’s right, no? Because they deserve to play for other targets in another team, but we have to be ready to bring in other big players with the policy of the club.

“We have to arrive ready to compete in four competitions.”

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