Tony Barrett
Published at 12:01AM, July 26 2014
Liverpool’s preparations for the new season have been dealt a significant blow after Adam Lallana suffered a knee ligament injury that is expected to keep the England midfield player out of action for up to six weeks.
Lallana, who is yet to feature in a pre-season fixture since joining from Southampton in a £23 million deal this month, suffered the injury yesterday during training at Liverpool’s Harvard University base in Boston.
Liverpool’s medical staff have diagnosed damage to Lallana’s lateral collateral ligament, but initial fears that he could require an operation that would have kept him out for up to three months have since been allayed.
Lallana had been expected to make his Liverpool debut in a pre-season friendly against Olympiacos in Chicago on Sunday, but plans are now being made for him to return to Merseyside after treatment in the United States.
The news will be received with disappointment by Roy Hodgson who had earmarked Lallana for a starting place in England’s friendly against Norway on September 3. The timescale involved for his recovery also indicates that the 26-year-old could struggle to be fit for England’s opening 2016 European Championship qualifying group game away to Switzerland five days later.
Lallana will miss the opening three games of Liverpool’s Barclays Premier League season, fixtures at home to Southampton, his former club, and away to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.