After finally completing his protracted move to Liverpool from Southampton, former Saint’s captain Adam Lallana has been ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury.
The 26-year old was set to pull on the famous Red shirt for the first time since his £25mil move was completed, but he’ll not only miss the remainder of the Anfield outfit’s pre-season tour, but the beginning of the Premier League season as well after sustaining a knee injury training at Harvard University. The initial fears of the Liverpool medical staff was that surgery would be required to correct the lateral collateral ligament damage he sustained in the process, but thankfully the injury isn’t quite as bad as they had originally thought.
With surgery ruled out, Lallana is set for six weeks on the treatment table — a serious blow to not only the Reds pre-season preparation, but also to the player’s integration into the their much praised attacking system. Despite making the move to Merseyside almost immediately following England’s exit from the World Cup, the 26-year old is yet to feature in any of Liverpool’s pre-season matches having just returned from holidays.
Had everything gone to plan, he would have lined up for his new side for the first time on Sunday when the Reds take on Greek team Olympiacos at Chicago’s Soldier Field in their opening match of the Guinness International Champions Cup, but he’s going to have to watch the action on TV instead. Barring some sort of miracle, he’ll also miss a potentially awkward situation when Liverpool take on his former club Southampton in their opening fixture of the Premier League season.
