Adam Lallana

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. He is of Spanish descent through his paternal grandfather.

Southampton

Lallana was a member of the Bournemouth Centre of Excellence, where he was spotted by a talent scout from Southampton. He joined the Premier League club's Saints Academy as a 12-year-old in September 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 match, with a well-placed finish into 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 would expire 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 2014 FIFA World Cup, Lallana was subject to interest from Premier League runners-up Liverpool. After long periods of negotiation Liverpool placed a reported £25 million bid which was 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 originally included a 25% sell-on-clause in his contract when he joined Southampton, but only received £4 million after agreeing to a reduced fee with Southampton. Lallana was the second of three players to transfer from Southampton to Liverpool during the summer of 2014, behind Rickie Lambert and later followed by Dejan Lovren.

2014–15 season

On 25 July, Liverpool confirmed that Lallana had injured his knee while training with the club in Boston, Massachusetts during pre-season and would be out for six weeks. He therefore missed the start of the league season, which began against former club Southampton. He made his debut in Liverpool's fourth match on 13 September, starting and being substituted for Raheem Sterling after 61 minutes in a 1–0 home defeat to Aston Villa. On 4 October he scored his first goal for the club, opening a 2–1 home win against West Bromwich Albion seconds before half time. Lallana scored his second goal for Liverpool on 2 December during Liverpool's 3–1 win at Leicester City. On 29 December, he continued his fine form and scored two goals in a 4–1 win against Swansea City at Anfield. On 14 February, Lallana scored the winning goal in a FA Cup Fifth Round match against Crystal Palace. On 19 April 2015, Lallana was selected in The Football Manager Team of the Decade at the Football League Awards.

2015–16 season

On 17 September 2015, Lallana scored the opening goal in the new Europa League season opening group stage away match against Bordeaux at the Stade Chaban-Delmas, a match Liverpool went on to draw 1–1. On 1 October, Lallana scored in a second match in a row against Sion in the Europa League but the match ended in a 1–1 draw. On 23 January 2016, he came on as a second-half substitute and scored an injury-time winner in Liverpool's 5–4 away win at Norwich City. On 28 February 2016, Lallana came on as a second-half substitute and missed in the penalty shoot-out against Manchester City, resulting in Liverpool's loss in the 2016 League Cup Final. On 3 March 2016, he scored and assisted in Liverpool's 3–0 home win against Manchester City.

International career

Lallana played for England Under-18s, scoring on his debut against Slovenia, 18 months after undergoing an operation to correct an irregular heartbeat. He also played once each for England Under-19s and England Under-21s. On 10 September 2012, Lallana was called up to the senior England squad for the first time for the 2014 World Cup qualifying match against Ukraine although he was not selected for the match itself.

On 7 November 2013, along with Southampton team mates Rickie Lambert and fellow uncapped Saint Jay Rodriguez, he was called up to the England team. Lallana won his first cap for England on 15 November by starting a friendly match against Chile at Wembley Stadium. Although England lost 2–0, Lallana's performance received generally favourable reviews. He also started in England's defeat against Germany four days later. He gained his third cap in a 1–0 friendly win against Denmark on 5 March 2014, coming on as a substitute for Jack Wilshere and crossing for Daniel Sturridge to head in the only goal of the match.

On 12 May 2014, Lallana was named in the 23-man England squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He made his competitive debut on 14 June in the first group match against Italy, coming on for the last 10 minutes in place of Sturridge who had scored England's goal in the 1–2 defeat.

Lallana scored his first goal for England on 4 September 2016 in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification away match to Slovakia at Štadión Antona Malatinského. It came during stoppage time and proved to be England's winning goal of the match.

Lallana scored his second England goal on 11 November 2016 in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Scotland. The score ended 3–0 to England, with Gary Cahill and Liverpool team-mate Daniel Sturridge scoring the other goals.

On 30 January 2017 it was announced that Lallana had won the England Player of the Year Award for 2016 after his performance for the national team.

Personal life

Lallana married his fiancée Emily Jubb, on 24 December 2013. The couple who had been dating for seven years, were due to marry on 14 June 2014, which coincided with England's opening World Cup match with Italy. They wed at Poole Register Office in Dorset. Together, they have two sons, Arthur Michael, born on 26 September 2012 and Albie George born on 3 June 2015.

In 2014, Lallana was signed as a French Connection model, to promote their Autumn/Winter collection. He revealed his fashion photo shoot at an interview with Esquire Magazine.

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Southampton

Individual