Adam Lallana is on the verge of completing a £25 million move to Liverpool after it was revealed that the Southampton midfielder will undergo a medical with the Merseyside club on Friday.
The BBC's Ben Smith and James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo revealed that Lallana was en route to Melwood, suggesting the fee has been agreed between the two clubs:
Adam Lallana is on his way to Melwood for a medical with #LFC at this very momemt
— Ben Smith (@BenSmithBBC) June 27, 2014
Adam Lallana's proposed £25m move to #LFC could be completed as early as today. Clubs in advanced talks
— Ben Smith (@BenSmithBBC) June 27, 2014
#LFC have agreed a fee of around £25m with Southampton for midfielder Adam Lallana. Player on his way to Melwood for medical.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) June 27, 2014
The move could go through within 24 hours, with Lallana becoming the latest high-profile exit from St. Mary's Stadium, after BBC Sport reported that Luke Shaw's £27 million move to Old Trafford has been completed.
Despite Lallana's acquisition, Liverpool remain keen to boost their options out wide even further with the signing of Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez, according to Smith:
Brendan Rodgers already signed Rickie Lambert for a fee of £4 million before the striker jetted off as part of England's unsuccessful World Cup campaign this summer.
Daniel Storey takes note of the positives in Southampton's decision to sell, however, while Alex Kay of the Daily Mail jests that the south coast club may yet turn the table on Liverpool:
Lallana becomes Liverpool's third signing of the summer after Lambert and Emre Can's arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, with Rodgers showing a tenacious hunger in his recruitment efforts.
OptaJoe points to the 26-year-old's creative talents as being one of the most alluring factors in Liverpool's decision to plump for his signature:
It's no coincidence that Southampton's apparent turnaround on their stance to sell comes not long after Ronald Koeman was appointed as successor to Mauricio Pochettino, either.
The Dutchman has vast experience in the Eredivisie, where the business of selling talent on for a profit is much more commonplace than in the Premier League.
Following Koeman's appointment at the club's helm, executive director Les Reed outlined the model that Southampton would strive to follow in an interview with BBC Sport:
Lallana and Shaw have only just returned to England after playing their parts in Roy Hodgson's disappointing World Cup campaign, which saw the Three Lions fail to claim a win and advance from their group.I hope the announcement will prick up a few ears and they will think that's a good positive move from the club. If players leave, it will be because we believe it is right for the club.We need to sit down, assess and audit our squad and look at the strengths and weaknesses. We'll look at players that we'd like to bring in and then look at the individual cases of the players who may want to leave.
Liverpool finished second in the Premier League last season and aren't taking any prisoners in their transfer window efforts, intent on building a squad that will be able to compete on multiple frontiers.
Source: Bleacher Report
No comments:
Post a Comment