Arsenal and Manchester United legends hail Brighton star ahead of Argentina v Croatia World Cup semi-final

The 23-year-old was an unused substitute in Argentina’s opening two Group C games against Saudi Arabia and Mexico respectively, but has since become an integral part of the South American nation’s midfield.

Mac Allister netted his first international goal in Argentina’s crucial 2-0 win over Poland in the final round of group stages.

The midfielder played 80 minutes of the South American’s 2-1 victory over Australia in the round of 16, before playing the entire 120 minutes of Argentina's quarter-final against the Netherlands, which La Albiceleste won 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Speaking ahead of tonight’s semi-final, ITV Sport pundits Ian Wright and Roy Keane lavished praised on the Seagulls’ central midfielder

Arsenal’s second-highest goal scorer of all time Wright said: “He’s kind of gone under the radar with what he’s done – the way he can get into the box, the way he tracks back and does that work.”

Former Manchester United captain and seven-time Premier League winner Keane added: “We see him do this week in, week out. He gets himself in the right positions, [he] reads the game well. He’s got what I call football intelligence.

“He’s definitely grown [throughout the tournament]. He’s still new to international football, but we’ve been praising [Jude] Bellingham throughout the tournament for his kind of play. You don’t see that from a modern midfielder, everyone wants to get touches on the ball but he’s growing in confidence.

“He’s shown his quality, which we see week in, week out. He’s just got better and better as the tournament has gone on.”