Tottenham and Arsenal have suffered a big blow in their attempts to lure Adam Lallana to north London.
Football Insider reported today that Brendan Rodgers had opened talks with the midfielder and was confident of bringing the Liverpool man to Leicester.
Lallana is out of contract at the end of the season and it doesn’t appear as though his current side are ready to offer him new terms.
The former Southampton man hasn’t been short of suitors with West Ham and Burnley, among teams overseas, thought to be interested in acquiring his signature.
However, it was Spurs and their rivals Arsenal who were the most high profile of sides interested in bringing him through the door.
Unfortunately for Jose Mourinho and Mikel Arteta, they look set to miss out on him to another club challenging for the Premier League’s top four.
GIVE ME SPORT’S Matt Dawson says...
This should be frustrating to both north London clubs, especially Arsenal, who according to Goal won’t have an awful lot to spend once the summer window rolls around.
Given the cuts and losses suffered during the horrible pandemic we’re facing, tying deals up for as cheap as possible would have been a smart strategy – especially for proven Premier League players.
Lallana is exactly the type of player nearly every club in the division would like to have signed. He is a model professional and a versatile individual too.
Free transfers are low risk as well, even if the player has the type of injury record that Lallana possesses. Since arriving at Anfield he’s had a total of 11 separate issues.
For that alone, Spurs and Arsenal may be glad to miss out, but having a player like the 32-year-old around would have done no harm at all.
He’s rarely if ever, kicked up a fuss at playing second fiddle for Jurgen Klopp – he surely would have been happy to do so at another major club.