When Gustavo Alfaro was at the helm of Boca Juniors in 2019, his coaching staff measured individuals’ performances using an AI tool, which studied their values across three main criteria: tactical, technical and physical. They would then bring their findings together to create an overall evaluation.

The tool, called K Sport, employed a traffic-light system, using colours to indicate the values of each player. When a value was displayed in green, it meant that the score was above average. Yellow showed that the player exhibited some good attributes and others which were in need of improvement. And, if it was red, it meant that the player had more areas to develop.

In the squad at that time was Brighton loanee Alexis Mac Allister who, after moving to England from Argentinos Juniors earlier in the year, was making quite an impression with the Black and Gold. Brighton requested a copy of Mac Allister’s K Sport evaluation and, incredibly, the spreadsheet was green across the board.

“Alexis’s case really stood out,” Alejandro Manograsso, then part of Alfaro’s staff, told FIFA. “He joined Boca when they were going through a difficult time, as it was shortly after the Copa Libertadores final loss against River [Plate] in 2018.

“So for a player who hadn’t been brought through at Boca to put in that level of performance showed you what kind of a professional we had and how complete a player he is. Alexis’s spreadsheet really was all green.”

Life has moved at breakneck speed for Mac Allister since impressing at La Bombonera. He returned to Brighton in January 2020 and starred for the Seagulls, earning a place in Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina squad before playing a vital role in their FIFA World Cup™ triumph in Qatar.

Those performances for club and country earned the versatile midfielder a move to English powerhouses Liverpool, where he has continued his development into one of Europe’s most complete footballers. Now comfortably able to play almost any role in the middle of the park, Mac Allister is a different animal to his early days at Argentinos and Boca.

“We didn’t see him as playing in central midfield for us, rather as a potential inside forward or No10,” Manograsso cotinued. “There’s no doubt he’s made a leap in quality in Europe. At Brighton he played as part of a deep-lying duo with Moises Caicedo, but he’s added more layers to his game.”

Those additional layers are continuing to develop at Anfield. The midfielder has shown class and composure on the ball to become the Reds’ metronome, capable of dictating the play to his side’s advantage. He has continued to thrive in the final third as well, adding six goals and seven assists to his ever-growing attacking portfolio this term.

“Is Mac Allister a natural No5? No,” said Jurgen Klopp. “But has football developed over recent years in ways we couldn’t have imagined before? Yes. Does that mean a player like Mac Allister can play as a No5? Definitively.

“I really like having him there. As a team we can benefit from his position if we make sure we keep our formation very compact. If we do that correctly we get to have an incredible player in a central position who can pick a pass while thinking like an attacker.”

While Mac Allister has shone on Merseyside, he has continued to impress on the international scene. Scaloni already had a settled midfield trio heading into Qatar 2022, with Rodrigo de Paul, Giovani Lo Celso and Leandro Paredes in line to start after thriving in their Copa America 2021 conquest. An injury to Lo Celso, however, forced Scaloni’s hand.

In the opening game of the tournament against Saudi Arabia, he opted to start with Alejandro Gomez, but a nightmare defeat sent him back to the drawing board. Mac Allister, who had only made his international debut eight months prior, was brought in for the second game against Mexico, starting out wide before moving infield to dovetail with De Paul and Enzo Fernandez, a trio that remains La Albiceleste’s first-choice midfield.

Since then, he has kept a vice-like grip on his spot in the starting line-up. Over a year on from Argentina clinching their third World Cup, the midfielder has won 25 caps for his nation and has grown from a newcomer to one of the squad’s most dependable members.

As the midfield maestro heads into his prime, and with Copa America and World Cup titles to defend, one would imagine Mac Allister’s impact on the domestic and international scene will only continue to grow.