• Premier League

Lallana set to seal £20m Liverpool move

Adam Lallana will reportedly seal a £20 million move to Liverpool from Southampton next week, with the midfielder set to be named in Roy Hodgson's World Cup squad on Monday.

Despite interest from other clubs, the Daily Mail report that Lallana, who turned 26 on Saturday, has opted to join Brendan Rodgers' side.

It is believed Southampton see the transfer fee as fair value, with Lallana having progressed through their youth academy from the age of 12.

Rodgers was keen on Friday not to be seen to be commenting on another club's player, but said of Lallana: "Adam is a terrific young talent... there is always speculation about young talent."

The move is likely to be wrapped up before the England players report for manager Hodgson's pre-World Cup training camp in Portugal on May 19.

Lallana feels Hodgson's pre-tournament acclimatisation programme, which will take England from the Algarve to the fiercer temperatures of Miami, will leave them the best-prepared team in Brazil, where they will open their tournament against Italy in the Amazonian humidity of Manaus.

"We'll be as well-prepared as any other nation, if not more," Lallana told the Telegraph.

Lallana also insisted that England are not running scared of Italy. He added: "To win the World Cup you are going to have to beat the best at some point, so why not in the group phase? OK, in Euro 2012 we lost to Italy on penalties, but we have to remember it was a draw over normal time.

"We have a great chance of beating them. People might say it's a tough draw but I'm sure Italy are saying the same."

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