Former Tottenham and England striker Darren Bent has backed Southampton to sign Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana in the summer.
Bent says that he can see Lallana returning to Southampton upon the expiry of his Liverpool contract at the end of the season.
Lallana is set to be a free agent, unless Liverpool offer him an extended deal, and Bent thinks Southampton could be the perfect move.
Speaking to Football Insider, Bent said:
Southampton, I could see him going back there. I can see him going back to Southampton.
The one that everyone says whenever you talk about a player dropping down is Everton but that’s not going to happen. Southampton would be perfect.
He needs to go and start playing again regularly. He’s been a great servant for Liverpool, he’s won some great trophies there but he’s spent way too much time for someone of his ability not playing games.
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This would be an interesting move, with Lallana having left Southampton to join Liverpool in 2014. He came up through the ranks at Southampton and made over 250 appearances for the club, which means that it could take less time for him to settle in at St. Mary’s than other potential signings in the summer.
He is poised to be available on a free transfer, which limits the financial outlay Southampton would need to spend to bring him to the club. The issue, however, could be over his wages and how much he would be willing to cut in order to drop down to Southampton. Spotrac report that Lallana is currently earning £110k-per-week, whilst Danny Ings is said to be Southampton’s highest earner on £75k-per-week.
Given that Lallana will be 32 come the start of next season and has only scored one Premier League goal in the last three campaigns, he does not deserve to come straight in and be Southampton’s highest earner. So, Southampton may want to avoid this deal unless they are able to get him to lower his wage demands and pick him up on a reasonable contract.
