Adam David Lallana ( ; born 10 May 1988) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He is currently manager of Southampton Under-21s.
Lallana began his youth career with Bournemouth before transferring to Southampton in 2000, where he developed in their academy and became a professional in 2006. After a brief loan back to Bournemouth, he broke into Southampton's first team as they earned two consecutive promotions to rise from League One to the Premier League, and became captain in 2012. After two seasons in the top flight and an international breakthrough, he joined Liverpool for £25 million in July 2014. With Liverpool he won the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League and the 2019–20 Premier League. In 2020, he joined Brighton & Hove Albion on a free transfer, playing four seasons in the Premier League. He retired in 2025, after one final season at Southampton.
After his senior international debut in 2013, Lallana made 34 appearances for England. He scored three goals and represented his country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016.
Early life Lallana was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, but moved to the Iford area of Bournemouth, Dorset, when he was five years old. He attended Corpus Christi School followed by St Peter's Catholic School. As a child, Lallana supported Everton, like his father. He is of Spanish descent; his paternal grandfather is from Madrid.
Club career Southampton
Lallana was a member of the AFC Bournemouth Centre of Excellence, where he was spotted by a talent scout from Southampton. He joined the Premier League club's 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 contract with Southampton.
On 28 March 2010, he scored as Southampton beat Carlisle United 4–1 in the 2010 Football League Trophy final. 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 Matt 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 PFA Team of the Year after scoring 11 goals in the 2010–11 season as Southampton won promotion from League One, finishing three points behind winners Brighton & Hove Albion.
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 scored two goals in a 2–0 victory over Barnsley. He was nominated for the Southampton 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 PFA 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, as Southampton clinched a second consecutive promotion.
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."Southampton 2–0 Newcastle" BBC Sport. 25 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012. 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 shortlisted for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, losing to Liverpool striker Luis Suárez. On 27 April 2014, he was named alongside teammate Luke Shaw in the PFA Team of the Year. On 6 May, he was voted both the Southampton Players' Player and Fans' Player of the year, while his solo goal against Hull City won the club's goal of the season award.
Liverpool 2014–2016
Prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Lallana was subject to interest from Premier League runners-up Liverpool. After prolonged negotiation, Southampton accepted a reported £25 million bid and Lallana joined the Merseyside club on 1 July 2014. 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.
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 Premier 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.
On 17 September 2015, Lallana scored the opening goal in the new UEFA 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 defeat in the 2016 League Cup final. On 3 March 2016, he scored and assisted in Liverpool's 3–0 home win against Manchester City. On 23 April, he scored Liverpool's second goal against Newcastle United, which took the Reds to a 2–0 half-time lead, but the match ended with a 2–2 draw. On 5 May, he scored the third goal in Liverpool's second-leg win over Spanish team Villarreal in the Europa League semi-finals, with the Reds advancing to the final with a 3–1 aggregate win.
2016–2020
On 14 August 2016, during the opening match against Arsenal, Lallana scored Liverpool's second goal, which took the Reds to a 2–1 lead, with the match eventually ending in a 4–3 win for Liverpool. He was absent for parts of October and November due to reoccurring groin injuries. On 22 February 2017, Lallana signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool, keeping him at the club until 2020. On 21 May 2017, on the final day of the season, Lallana scored Liverpool's third goal in their 3–0 win over Middlesbrough, which secured a top-four finish for the Reds and qualification to the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League. Lallana ended the season with 42 appearances and 11 goals.
In August 2017, Lallana suffered a long-term injury during the Audi Cup final against Atlético Madrid, which would keep him out until mid-November. His first appearance of the season was on 17 November, in Liverpool's 1–1 draw with Chelsea, coming on as an 89th minute substitute for Philippe Coutinho. On 31 March, during a match against Crystal Palace, Lallana came on as a substitute in the 65th minute, but only several minutes after playing, he suffered another injury, which kept him out for "a number of weeks". He returned to the squad on 13 May, on the final day of the Premier League season, coming on as a substitute for Sadio Mané in the 74th minute, playing against Brighton & Hove Albion. Liverpool won the match 4–0, which was enough to secure a top-four finish and a place in the 2018–19 Champions League, as finishing in fourth place now meant that clubs in the Premier League will automatically qualify for the group stage, rather than qualifying initially for the play-off round.
On 26 May, during the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid, Lallana came on as a substitute in the 31st minute for Mohamed Salah, who had left the field in tears after suffering an injury, after being wrestled to the ground by Sergio Ramos. Liverpool would go on to lose the final 3–1. Lallana made only 13 appearances in the 2017–18 season, without scoring. The following season Lallana again only made occasional appearances, again making just 13 league appearances with no goals. He was however on the bench for the 2019 Champions League final which Liverpool won 2–0, his first major honour with Liverpool.
On 20 October 2019, Lallana came off the bench and equalised for Liverpool against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 85th minute, his first goal in over two years, earning his side a 1–1 draw and helping them remain unbeaten in the league.
On 9 June 2020, Lallana signed a short-term contract extension with Liverpool, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2019–20 season which had been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 25 June 2020, Liverpool clinched the 2019–20 Premier League title, marking their first league title in 30 years. Lallana left the club at the end of the season with his contract set to expire, ending his six-year stay at the club.
Brighton & Hove Albion