Out-of-favour Liverpool playmaker Adam Lallana is reportedly being linked with a return to former club Southampton in the summer transfer window.
According to a report by Daily Mirror, Adam Lallana could be set for a move away from Liverpool in the summer transfer window. The English playmaker is the subject of interest from former club Southampton, although his exit depends on the Reds’ ability to sign Bruno Fernandes.
Adam Lallana became a bonafide Premier League superstar on the back of a stellar 2013-14 season with Southampton – the Saints’ second campaign upon returning to the English top flight in 2012. The south coast club finished a respectable 8th that term, with Lallana leading them from the front.
The successful campaign also saw Lallana breaking into English national team. But, more importantly, it saw the playmaker being linked with some of the biggest clubs in the world, before Liverpool swooped him away from Southampton in the summer of 2014.
Over the last five years, the 30-year-old has endured a stop-start stint with the Reds, having gone from being a regular to sharing game time to now becoming an afterthought. Once a trusted lieutenant with Jurgen Klopp due to his excellent work-rate, injury problems have beset Lallana considerably, sending him crashing down the pecking order in the Liverpool midfield unit.
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Lallana has managed to clock just 917 minutes of action – a meagre amount for nearly two seasons. In addition to the mounting injury troubles, the addition of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita has meant the English international just has not been able to return to his pomp.
With the player now struggling to receive starts, the report suggests that he is now on the verge of leaving Liverpool, who are plotting a summer move to sign Portuguese sensation Bruno Fernandes. The arrival of the Sporting Lisbon midfielder will pile on the problems for the 30-year-old playmaker further.
Should Fernandes arrive at Anfield, Lallana will become surplus to requirements at Liverpool, as per the report. And, Southampton are interested in bringing the midfielder back to St. Mary’s, provided they manage to avoid relegation.
A return to familiar surroundings might just help revitalize the Liverpool outcast, who is in the peak years of his career and should be playing week in week out. And, a player like Lallana could potentially be the ideal foil for James Ward-Prowse and Danny Ings, with his staggering work-rate and slick footwork.
The move though, depends on Liverpool’s ability to sign Bruno Fernandes and it remains to be seen if Adam Lallana returns to former club Southampton in the summer transfer window.