Liverpool’s pressure on Southampton to sign 26-year-old Adam Lallana has finally paid off after the south coast club agreed to a £25 million offer for their captain who is now able to join former Saints striker Rickie Lambert at Anfield following a medical.
While Luis Suarez’s lawyer Alejandro Balbi was claiming that Liverpool officials were in Barcelona trying to arrange a deal with the Catalans for the clubs top scorer officials were instead in Southampton wrapping up a deal for the England international attacking midfielder.
The Reds are also looking to improve their attack next season by also going after Benfica’s highly-rated Serbia international, Lazar Markovic, and Belgium youngster Divock Origi who has been impressive for Belgium during this summer’s World Cup.
Despite Southampton trying to push Liverpool for a figure of around £30 million for Lallana which the Reds said they would not pay telling Southampton they had till the end of the month to except their offer or they would move on, it is believed according to the Guardian that it was the player himself who pushed for the move after returning from what was for England a disastrous showing in South America.
Executive director Les Reed had hoped that the arrival of new manager Ronald Koeman would convince a few top players to stay, but admitted for many it was time to move on saying: “Lallana’s been here long enough, we’ve brought him to this level and we feel that perhaps he should give it a little bit longer.”
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers will now move on to make more signings that he feels will be vital in order for Liverpool to compete in next seasons Champions League.
