Adam Lallana is a former England worldwide now surrounded by potential England stars at Southampton. Taylor Harwood-Bellis, for one, is the ball-playing centre-back who was 4 when Lallana made his first Southampton debut.
He captained England’s under-21s to European glory final summer season after agreeing to affix Southampton on mortgage from Manchester Metropolis with the choice of a everlasting £20m switch from Manchester Metropolis . It was an possibility the Saints exercised this summer season and Harwood-Bellis signed a four-year contract on the south coast in the summertime.
He has been joined at Southampton by a participant he has generally partnered in central defence for England Beneath-21s: Nathan Wooden, a £3m summer season recruit from Swansea , the place the 22-year-old performed underneath Martin beforehand.
St Mary’s has been a hotbed for English expertise for many years
Elsewhere on the membership there’s Ronnie Edwards, who performed for England U20s final time period and even at 27, Adam Armstrong hasn’t given up on his worldwide dream having made 4 appearances for the England U-20 staff who received the World Cup in 2017 – England’s first win in a world event since 1966.
The expertise pool is deep on the membership, and with Lallana’s personal son enjoying for his or her academy, the conveyor belt is more likely to proceed producing for membership and nation.
Youth meets expertise in relation to Southamptons 2024/25 squad (Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
“I nonetheless really feel I can supply one thing on the pitch and I might help the younger gamers,” Lallana advised FourFourTwo in an unique interview. “I’ve been talking to a couple of the youthful gamers. I’ve been on this league for the final 12 seasons, so I do know what’s required to remain within the Premier League; what habits you could see day in, time out on the coaching pitch, and the applying you want.”
Lallana is simply two years youthful than his new boss, Russell Martin , for whom he was blissful to decide to, even earlier than Southampton knew which division they’d be enjoying on this season.
“I knew earlier than the top of final season that I used to be coming again right here – the deal was agreed no matter what league the membership was in. But it surely was an enormous bonus for me when the lads bought promoted.”
He’d been away for ten seasons, through Liverpool and Brighton. His £25m exit to Liverpool in the summertime of 2014 got here after he had simply captained Southampton to eighth place underneath Pochettino. The midfielder was the second of six gamers to make the change from St Mary’s to Anfield over the course of 4 years, following Rickie Lambert and previous Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne, Sadio Mané and Virgil van Dijk.
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However it is a new period. “I’ve beloved my first few weeks again on the membership. Once you get to my age, you’re taking it 12 months by 12 months. I don’t know at this level how lengthy I’ll play on for – we’ll see what occurs in the direction of the top of the season. I simply need to get pleasure from this 12 months as a lot as doable”.
He speaks extremely of Russell Martin too. A former Scotland worldwide – really born and raised on the south coast, in Brighton – who has impressed many onlookers in a fledgling managerial profession that noticed him implement a beautiful model of passing soccer at MK Dons and Swansea, then convert that into promotion
in his first season at Southampton, through a club-record, 25-match unbeaten run.
“He’s bought nice concepts, he’s so enthusiastic, and he’s forward-thinking,” Lallana says.
“There are going to be powerful moments, the place we’d have misplaced two or three on the bounce, after we want them to remain calm, keep behind the staff and keep behind the supervisor. It’s not going to be straightforward. However we’ve bought good gamers and an unbelievable younger coach. I’m quietly assured.”
