LONDON, England – According to Paul Barber, chief executive of Brighton, “there won’t be a problem for a couple of years” in terms of keeping Alexis Mac Allister.

The 23-year-old midfielder made an impression as he assisted Argentina in winning the World Cup in Qatar.

Mac Allister’s contract with Brighton is set to expire in June 2025, although the club has the option to extend it by one additional year.

Barber stated, “He will be sought after, and we are well conscious of that, but we hope to keep him here as long as we can.

Following the departures of Ben White (£50 million) in June 2021 and fellow defender Dan Burn (£13 million) in January 2022, recent departures from Brighton have included defender Marc Cucurella (£60 million), midfielder Yves Bissouma (£25 million), and attacker Neal Maupay (£15 million).

Barber noted that it was “a wonderful problem to have” when discussing the attention on Mac Allister on live television interviews.

Of course, when staff and players perform well, as we’ve seen in the past several months, they do draw the attention of other major teams, he continued.

We are aware of the fact that these teams are wealthy and have the opportunity to raise players’ levels.

The only thing we can do is try to protect ourselves as much as possible through the contracts and hope to keep the player for as long as we can, nevertheless this young kid, who has just conquered and grabbed the World Cup at the early age of 23, unquestionably provided the assist for one of the tournament’s most iconic goals.

In his first goal in a 2 to 0 group-stage victory over Poland, Mac Allister, who played six times for Argentina at the 2022 World Cup, opened the scoring.

After a 3 to 3 stalemate in the final, Argentina defeated France on penalties. He passed to Angel di Maria for his team’s second goal.

Because of his contribution to the triumph, BBC Sport readers selected Mac Allister as the game’s best player.

Barber noted that the player of the match was selected by viewers of the BBC website, which is remarkable for a 23-year-old competing in his first World Cup and who has just recently joined Argentina’s team.

“It was an incredible occasion for him and his family as well as for our club to see him perform at that level and receive an assist as well, a superb assist.

“I didn’t talk to him after the game, but I sent him a message. I didn’t expect a response for a minute because I know he was swamped.

However, in keeping with who Alexis is as a person and a player, he answered overnight and thanked me and everyone at the club for the congratulations and all the support he received from the club in the competition.

I couldn’t be happier for them; they’re genuinely wonderful people and deserve the success. That’s Alexis; he’s modest, down to earth, and comes from a great family.

Closer look at Alexis Mac Allister

Alexis Mac Allister, an Argentine professional football player who now plays in central midfield for Brighton & Hove Albion of the Premier League and the Argentina national team, was born on December 24, 1998. 

When Mac Allister played for Argentina at the under-23 level, he won the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in 2020 and competed in the Olympics. He played for Argentina at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he played a key role in the team that ultimately won the competition, and assisted Angel Di Mara’s goal in the final against France. He made his senior international debut in 2019 and was a member of the team that won the 2022 Finalissima with a 3-0 victory over Italy.