Klopp winds Lallana up about Tottenham interest: ‘When do Spurs start pre-season…?’

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We love this story, as it shows how close Jurgen Klopp is with his senior Liverpool stars.

James Pearce of the Echo retells a tale from a recent press-conference in which Klopp gatecrashes Adam Lallana’s Q&A, teasing him about Tottenham’s reported summer interest!

“What are you doing here?” Klopp asked.

“Speaking about you!””Lallana said.

“Ask him if he knows when Spurs start pre-season training?” Klopp joked in a reference to recent speculation linking the England international with a summer move to White Hart Lane.

“Too late, we have already spoken about that,” Lallana responded.

“I asked him and he said July 1,” Klopp said before descending into laughter.

“I thought you were being serious,” Lallana insisted.

“Are you crazy!” Klopp added before heading back out the door.

It’s great to see that Klopp values the recently turned 28-year-old so highly, and he certainly wouldn’t be making those kind of jokes if he was looking to offload Lallana to Mauricio Pochettinno’s side!

Not that he needed to, but Lallana made sure Liverpool fans were certain of his desire to stay at Anfield.

“I’ve got three years left on my contract here,” he said.

“It was only last season that people might have read that I was leaving and thought ‘Yes, let’s get him out’. But football changes very quickly and I’m really enjoying my football under this manager.

“I’ve always had a good relationship with Pochettino. We are very good friends off the pitch now. But it would be very difficult (to leave).

“I am at a massive club here and playing some of my best football for the club, getting to cup finals.”

This term, Lallana’s scored seven goals and registered seven assists, but it’s his overall contribution to the team which sees him such a valuable part of Klopp’s first-choice XI.

The former Southampton man leads our press, sprinting after defenders and setting the tone for our relentless work-rate off the ball. If his ruthlessness around the area matched his technical ability we’d be looking at one of the top playmakers around, but as it is, he still provides a hugely important cog in Klopp’s strategy.

The manager was recently quoted by journalist Keith Costigan as saying the Kop should have ‘ten songs’ for Lallana, such is the Englishman’s ferocity and hunger.

Lallana will start tomorrow’s Europa League Final on the right-wing, hoping for another all-action performance.

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