Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi shows a touch of class as he encourages a standing ovation from fans for former Seagull Alexis MacAllister

Roberto De Zerbi showed his class when he brought Alexis MacAllister over to the home fans after Brighton’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool. 

MacAllister swapped the south coast for Merseyside over the summer for a fee of £35m. 

The Argentina international won the World Cup while he was at the club, but has been relatively inconsistent since joining the Reds.

However Brighton boss De Zerbi made sure he felt the love from fans on his return to the Amex Stadium, walking him over to the fans to recieve an ovation. 

MacAllister made 112 appearances and scored 20 goals for Brighton in a successful spell at the club after signing from Argentinos Juniors in 2019. 

Mac Allister left Brighton to join Liverpool for £35million in the summer transfer window

However he did not have his best of games, with a miscommunication between the midfielder and Virgil van Dijk helping Simon Adingra break the deadlock for the hosts.   

Despite this, former boss de Zerbi walked him around the stadium with Brighton fans applauding the 24-year-old and MacAllister clapping back in emotional scenes.

MacAllister seems to be adapting well to Jurgen Klopp’s style of play, despite being utilised in a deeper role than he would be used to. 

He has made ten appearances for Liverpool, with two of those coming in the Europa League, but is yet to score his first goal. 

His manager defended him after the game insisting: ‘The most difficult thing to do is to make a mistake against your old team and then come back in the game like he did,’

Adding: ‘Mistakes happen.’

Jurgen Klopp has defended his Argentinian midfielder after his mistake away against Brighton