Former Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana announces retirement

New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) Former England and Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana has announced his retirement from football.

The 37-year-old took to social media to announce hisdecision and took the time to acknowledge his spells at Liverpool, Southampton and Brighton and Hove Albion.

"As I call time on my playing career, I do so with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and pride. I could not be more appreciative of the opportunities I’ve been given and the support I’ve received along the way. You owe so much to so many on a journey like this — it’s impossible to name everyone, but to all those, please know how grateful I am. I couldn’t have done it without you.

"Southampton… the place where it all started, and fittingly where it ends. It’s the club I ultimately owe everything to.

" Liverpool… the chance to represent one of the greatest clubs in the world and win some of the biggest prizes in the game.

"Brighton… home to some of the happiest years of my life, at a club deeply connected to its community and run in such a smart, modern way.

"And England… every single cap meant the world to me. Representing my country was the greatest honour," posted Lallana on his social media.

The Englishman spent six years at Anfield after being signed from Southampton during the summer of 2014.

His maiden campaign with the Reds came under Brendan Rodgers and included 41 appearances and six goals, though Lallana’s impact grew further following the appointment of Jurgen Klopp as manager in October 2015.

After Liverpool were runners-up in both the League Cup and Europa League during Klopp’s first campaign in charge, Lallana was pivotal to the regaining of Champions League qualification in 2016-17, contributing eight goals and seven assists in the league.

Injury misfortunes would prevent the No. 20 from featuring and shining so regularly in the seasons that followed, when the Reds climbed to the heights of successive European Cup final appearances in 2018 and 2019.

A first-half introduction in the defeat by Real Madrid in Kyiv the first time, Lallana was then on the bench a year later as he and his teammates lifted the trophy courtesy of a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

The 2019-20 campaign was his memorable swansong for Liverpool. It began with a UEFA Super Cup victory, included a FIFA Club World Cup triumph and ended with a Premier League winner’s medal.

When that season – prolonged due to the Covid-19 pandemic – concluded, he bid farewell to Anfield, with 178 Liverpool appearances and 22 goals tp his name/

He moved back to the south coast and joined Brighton & Hove Albion, for whom he would go on to make 104 appearances and score four times before departing in 2024.

Lallana then returned to Southampton for what would prove to be his final season as a professional player.

Lallana was also capped on 34 occasions at senior level by England, scoring three times.

--IANS

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