Adam Lallana/import

Adam David Lallana (born 10 May 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Liverpool and the England national team.

He began his youth career with Bournemouth before transferring to Southampton in 2000, where he became a professional in 2006. After a brief loan back to Bournemouth he broke into Southampton's first team as they earned two promotions from League One to the Premier League, becoming captain in 2012. After two seasons in the Premier League and an international breakthrough, he joined Liverpool for an undisclosed fee in July 2014.

Lallana was given his senior international debut for England in 2013 and was selected for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Early life
Lallana was born in St Albans in Hertfordshire but moved to the Iford area of Bournemouth when he was five years old. He attended Corpus Christi School followed by St Peter's Catholic Comprehensive School. As a child, Lallana supported Everton, like his father.

Southampton
Lallana was a member of the Bournemouth Centre of Excellence, where his rich potential was eventually spotted by a talent scout from Southampton, with Lallana snapped up by the Premier League club, joining the Saints Academy as a 12-year old in 2000. Southampton paid £3,000 compensation to Bournemouth with further payments of £5,000 and £10,000 when he signed scholarship and professional contracts respectively.

Lallana was involved in Southampton's FA Youth Cup squads of 2004–05 and 2005–06, when they reached the final and semi-final respectively.

Lallana joined the first team squad in July 2006, making his debut on 23 August 2006, in a 5–2 victory over Yeovil Town, in the League Cup. On 31 October 2006 he signed a new contract to keep him at Southampton until December 2009. On 9 October 2007 he joined Bournemouth on loan for one month. On 28 April 2008, Lallana scored his first professional goal for Southampton against West Bromwich Albion in a crucial Championship clash, with a well placed finish in the bottom left corner.

He became a regular in the first team at the start of the 2008–09 season. On 29 August 2008, he signed a new three-year deal with the Saints.

He finished the 2009–10 season with a total of twenty goals in all competitions, netting his 20th on the final day of the season against Southend United. This made him the first Southampton midfielder to score twenty goals in a season since Matthew Le Tissier's 30 in the 1994–95 season.

On 7 January 2011, Lallana signed a new contract with Southampton which expires in the summer of 2015. He was named in the League One Team of the Year for the 2010–11 season after scoring 11 goals that season.

He then scored on the opening day of the 2011–12 season, a 3–1 victory over Leeds United at St Mary's Stadium which broke a 12-year hoodoo of Southampton not winning on the opening day and secured a record-breaking seventh consecutive league win. He then scored twice in a 5–2 victory at Ipswich Town. His 150th start for the club came in a 1–1 draw at south coast rivals Portsmouth. His tenth goal of the season came in a 4–0 victory over Derby County. He then grabbed a brace in a 2–0 victory over Barnsley. He was nominated for the Player of the Year award but lost out to teammate Rickie Lambert. Along with Lambert and Kelvin Davis, he was one of three Southampton players named in the Championship Team of the Year for the 2011–12 season. He scored on the final day of the campaign to finish with 13 goals, 11 of which came in the league.

He made his first Premier League appearance on the opening day of the 2012–13 season, setting up a goal and wearing the captain's armband in a 3–2 defeat against 2011-12 champions Manchester City. He scored his first Premier League goal in a 4–1 defeat away to West Ham United. His second goal of the season came on 25 November, as he opened the scoring in a 2–0 home win against Newcastle United. The 50th goal of his career came in a 2–0 victory at Reading.

On 11 April 2013, Lallana signed a new five-year contract with Southampton. In Southampton's 4–1 Premier League victory over Hull City on 9 November 2013, Lallana started with the ball 30 yards from goal and dribbled his way past five players into the left-hand side of the 18-yard box, before slotting it past Hull goalkeeper Steve Harper.

On 18 April 2014, he was named as one of the six players on the shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year award. On 27 April 2014, he was named alongside teammate Luke Shaw in the PFA Team of the Year. On 6 May, he was crowned as both the Southampton Players’ Player and Fans’ Player of the year.

Liverpool
Prior to the World Cup, Lallana was subject to interest from Premier League runners up Liverpool. After long periods of negotiation Liverpool placed a reported £25m bid which was later accepted by Southampton. Following England's return from the World Cup, Lallana signed for Liverpool, and was handed the number 20 shirt, the number he wore during his time at Southampton. Bournemouth, Lallana's youth team, had included a 25% sell-on-clause in his contract when he joined Southampton; as a result, the Championship side received £4 million from the transfer suggesting the up front fee without add-ons was around £16m although ultimately undisclosed. Lallana was the second player to transfer from St Mary's to Anfield during the summer of 2014, behind Rickie Lambert.