PSG are reportedly eyeing the Premier League for double summer swoops with Adam Lallana and Dele Alli emerging as transfer targets for the club.
The Times have reported that PSG have turned to the Premier League for reinforcements in the summer, and are focusing on Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur midfielders Adam Lallana and Dele Alli respectively for a double swoop for English players.
Adam Lallana and Dele Alli are two of the hottest English properties currently, setting the Premier League on fire with consistent and impeccable performances from midfield for Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur proving to be pivotal in the clubs’ march towards the league title this season.
Lallana rose through the ranks at Southampton, having joined the club as a 12-year-old boy. As he continued to impress for the Saints, the club rose through the lower leagues of English football, earning back-to-back promotions with Lallana at the centre of the revolution as the club captain.
Having impressed many in his 256 appearances for Southampton, Liverpool made a move for Lallana in 2014 and signed the England international on a £25 million transfer. And after initially struggling to make an impression at Anfield, Lallana has finally started to showcase his undoubted talent.
Jurgen Klopp’s appointment at the helm at Liverpool proved to be the catalyst in Lallana’s career, and the Englishman has evolved as a midfielder, with his darting runs, eye for goals and quick, deft movement proving to be more than a threat for opposition defences.
This season has been Lallana’s best, with the 28-year-old bagging seven goals and as many assists in 20 appearances for the Reds, and he has been a key figure alongside Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane to make for an explosive attacking quartet.
Dele Alli, on the other hand, has taken the Premier League by storm, having already established himself as one of the best midfielders in English football at a tender age of 20. Signed from MK Dons in 2015, Alli joined Tottenham Hotspur as one of the most highly rated English youngsters.
However, no one expected Alli to rise among the Tottenham ranks so rapidly. After a breakthrough season with Spurs in 2015/16 when he scored 10 goals and assisted nine more in the Premier League, Alli has only continued to improve in this campaign, having already netted 11 times so far in 16/17.
What distinctly stands out in Alli is his eye for goal, as the midfielder tends to think like a striker to find himself in goalscoring positions on a regular basis, ghosting past defenders unlike most in the world.
PSG, this season, haven’t been at their best, falling behind AS Monaco and Nice in Ligue to be third in the league table. The likes of Angel Di Maria, Hatem Ben Arfa and Javier Pastore have failed to create much impact so far, and the French champions’ search for goals from midfield saw them sign Julian Draxler earlier this month.
The French giants are still looking to bring in goalscoring midfielders to the club in the summer, and the club’s director of football Patrick Kluivert, who is said to be an admirer of Lallana and Alli, has recommended the English duo to PSG.
The club’s interest in Lallana has been well known, having already been heavily linked with the 28-year-old in recent months. However, Alli, who was reported to be on the radar of Barcelona and Real Madrid earlier this month has also sparked interest from PSG.
According to the report, Kluivert also believes that the deal for Lallana and Alli would “bring significant commercial advantages to PSG” other than bringing their undoubted added gumption on the field.
Liverpool and Tottenham, though, are unlikely to let go of their prized assets easily, and PSG are set to find it tough to land either of the two players in the summer transfer window. It now remains to be whether the French club’s interest in Lallana and Alli comes to anything or eventually fizzles out.
