Tuesday, July 1, 2014

LIVERPOOL COMPLETE THE SIGNING OF LALLANA

England International Adam Lallana has completed his £25m move from Southampton to Liverpool.
Lallana, 26, is manager Brendan Rodgers' second signing of the summer,joining former team-mate Rickie Lambert at Anfield on a long-term deal.
The midfielder, who played for England during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, made 265 appearances for Saints.
"I am so excited for the next chapter of my career, coming to a special club like Liverpool," said Lallana who passed a medical at the weekend.
"Hopefully I can settle in quickly and I will give it my best throughout the whole time I'm here.
"I hope I can add something to the team and hopefully we can win trophies while I'm here, because that's why I'm here - for success."
Lallana, who will wear the number 20 shirt at Liverpool, earned a place on the PFA's Premier League team of the year for his performances last season, when he was ever present for Saints, scoring nine goals.
Liverpool open their Premier League campaign against Southampton at Anfield on 16 August.
Bournemouth, whom he left to join Southampton as a 12-year-old, will receive a £6.25m windfall as a clause written into Lallana's contract means the Championship club are entitled to 25% of any sell-on fee.
With Luke Shaw also leaving in a £27m transfer to Manchester United, it has been a summer of change at Saints who announced Ronald Koeman as their new manager in June following Mauricio Pochettino's appointment as Tottenham boss.
However, the club are adamant the income received from the transfer would be reinvested in the squad.
"Southampton Football Club can confirm that Adam Lallana has completed his transfer to Liverpool," said a statement on saintsfc.co.uk.
"The fee received from Liverpool, although undisclosed, will allow the club to further develop the first-team squad for the 2014-15 season."
That opening weekend fixture has not gone unnoticed by Lallana, who said: "It would have been worse if it was at St Mary's.
"It's fate. Rickie and I spoke about it, and he said he could have bet his mortgage on it."
Lallana intends to take a couple of weeks off to recharge his batteries following what he admitted was a disappointing World Cup campaign in which England failed to qualify from the group stages.
But, with the prospect of playing Champions League football for the first time, the midfielder knows he has a lot to look forward to.
"Champions League football is back; everyone is telling me that the atmosphere on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at Anfield are something special," said Lallana, who was made Southampton captain in 2012.
"To think, five or six years ago, I was playing in League One. "

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