It is fair to say that some football managers are more demonstrative to their players than others.
There are those who take the stern, sometimes distant, ‘tough love’ route like Rafa Benitez who would be so sparing with his praise even superstars like Steven Gerrard were left wondering at times what the boss really thought of him.
After over six-and-a-half years of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, it has become pretty clear that he is at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum.
The German’s infectious and charismatic personality has been a central theme of the golden era Anfield is now enjoying, with ‘Klopp hugs’ a regular feature of Anfield life, sustained success on the field being matched by a profound restoration of the ‘Holy Trinity’ bond between manager, players and supporters which has rarely been more vibrant.
Klopp is mindful to tailor his enthusiasm when in front of cameras and microphones to not give away too many cheap soundbites which could come back to haunt him but every so often the mask slips, as it did when paying tribute to one of the unsung heroes of the early part of his reign who made his final Liverpool appearance two years ago this week.
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Managers rarely use the word ‘legend’ when describing one of their own players but the Reds manager could not help himself when Adam Lallana called time on his six years at Anfield back in the summer of 2020.
To some, that may have sounded something of an exaggeration for a player who managed only 117 starts in over half a decade but not when you consider how much value Klopp puts in the unity of his squad and Lallana's contribution to it.
The St Albans-born attacking midfielder arrived at Anfield in a £25m move from Southampton in the summer of 2014 having worked his way through the Saints academy set up after joining as a youngster from Bournemouth and helping the south coast club regain Premier League status after slumping into the doldrums of League One.
His nimble feet, positional sense and eye for goal had won admirers across the top flight as well as gaining full international recognition with England, the 26-year-old being shortlisted for the previous season's PFA Footballer of the Year award which ultimately went to Luis Suarez for the 31 goals he scored that saw Liverpool come desperately close to a first league title since 1990 only to fall just short to Manchester City.
Labelling Lallana a ‘special commodity’, Reds manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his new signing’s tactical awareness and love for the game while expressing the belief the Englishman would be an ideal fit to help revitalise a squad which had just come so close to achieving the holy grail Liverpudlians had been dreaming of close on a quarter of a century.
“We are delighted to have secured the services of one of the Premier League’s top talents”, Rodgers said.
“What is apparent about Adam is that his character is on a par with his talent.
“He is an exceptional young man and someone who has a love for the game - and, most importantly, a desire to progress and improve. Adam is motivated by being the best he can be and being part of something special. We believe he fits right in with what we are trying to do at Liverpool.
“We have seen, over the past two seasons in the Barclays Premier League, he has a tactical awareness to adapt to what is required of him and to put the team above his personal ambitions.
“He has leadership skills and personal qualities that make him a special commodity and I am delighted we have acted decisively to make sure he is wearing a Liverpool shirt next season.
“Adam is aware there will be great competition for places at this club and he is hungry to improve further. We are confident he will fit perfectly with the culture we have at Liverpool.”
Boyhood Evertonian Lallana was joined at Anfield that summer by fellow Saint and die-hard Liverpudlian Rickie Lambert as well as Croatian central defender Dejan Lovren, Spanish left back Alberto Moreno, Italian forward Mario Balotelli, German midfielder Emre Can and Serbian winger Lazar Markovic, with Belgian forward Divock Origi also signing from Lille but being immediately loaned back to the French club for a season.
It was hoped was an influx of new blood would enable Rodgers’ men to build on the staggering progress of the previous campaign but in reality the devastation of the title near-miss which had seen Liverpool needing only seven points from their final three games before a fateful Anfield meeting with Chelsea along with the departure of Suarez to Barcelona and imminent departure of Steven Gerrard proved impossible to shake off, initiating yet another plunge into the boom and bust cycle the club seemed perennially locked into.
An abject season saw Rodgers’ men eliminated from the Champions League in the group stages, lose to relegation-threatened Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final and finish 25 points behind champions Chelsea in sixth, the final insult of a harrowing nine months of football being a 6-1 final day of the season humiliation at Stoke City which had seen the Reds five goals behind at half time in Gerrard’s last game.
Lallana had enjoyed some limited success in a difficult start to life on Merseyside, scoring six times in 41 appearances, and arguably had performed as creditably as any of fellow summer arrivals but none of them had been able to blast away the psychological residue of the previous season’s failed title bid and when, to the surprise of many, 2015/16 began with Brendan Rodgers still at the Anfield helm few Liverpudlians held any great hopes of a drastic change in fortune despite the signings of Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Danny Ings, Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez.
Although the Reds made a decent start with seven points from the first three league games, by early October they had already slumped to 10th in the Premier League table while needing penalties to get past League Two Carlisle United in the League Cup and just hours after a 1-1 Merseyside derby draw at Goodison Park, club owners Fenway Sports Group called time on Rodgers’ reign, four days later making arguably the most significant decision of the modern era at Anfield by appointing Jurgen Klopp as manager.
The German coach had become one of the hottest properties in European football after temporarily breaking Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga dominance with Borussia Dortmund while also leading the ’Schwarzgelb’ to the Champions League final and the 48-year-old, who it later emerged had been approached by Manchester United the previous year to replace David Moyes, cut short a sabbatical following his Dortmund departure to take over at Anfield, famously identifying immediately the need to turn ‘doubters into believers’ throughout the club.
Lallana was restored to the starting line-up for Klopp’s first match in charge away to Tottenham and the England man recalled how the new manager’s inspirational words in the team hotel before that Saturday lunchtime kick off at White Hart Lane sparked a new mentality in an injury-hit and confidence-ravaged squad.
“I remember the team meeting before we set off for the ground on that day”, Lallana said.
“We listened to the manager and I was so pumped by what he’d said – the vibe, the emotion and the feeling – I walked out wanting the game to start there and then, in that second. It was just the passion of his words that got to us.
"He really is brilliant to listen to. He seems to have an off-the-cuff way about him. He just goes with the flow and it’s all genuine. The way he describes himself as 'normal’ is true. There is no ego but an abundance of charisma and an aura.
“He means what he says. He’ll be your mate but not your best mate. He’s not going to go for a pint with us after a match, but he’ll call you into the office and have a chat if it’s needed.
“It was just the passion of his words that got to us, and the comparison he made of football to normal life, the idea of getting the win and feeling good about what you’ve achieved. He told us he wants us to have that feeling of going home after a game, sitting there and knowing you have done your job. To always feel you can be satisfied with your performance. He understands you will make mistakes and not play so well in a game but if you leave blood and sweat on the pitch for him – that is what he likes most. It’s a good feeling to know you’ve had a good day at work.”
On what would proved to be a momentous yet poignant day for Merseyside football with news of the sad passing of Everton legend Howard Kendall being announced barely an hour before Klopp’s Liverpool career got underway, Lallana and his team-mates travelled back from the capital having achieved a creditable goalless draw with one of the most enduring images of the afternoon being the Reds attacking midfielder virtually collapsing into his manager’s arms having been substituted for Joe Allen nine minutes from time such was his level of exhaustion.
It provided a fascinating snapshot into the new footballing culture being introduced at Anfield based on ‘gegenpressing’ - an intense style of play that sees a team press high when out of possession in order to win the ball back as soon as they lose it - which would become intrinsically associated with Klopp’s Liverpool sides, Lallana sometimes labelled the ‘leader of the press’ in those early seasons under the German and regarded by many during that time as the embodiment of a Klopp player.
"It’s an iconic photo”, Lallana admitted years later.
"I remember that game as if it was yesterday and I could probably name you the XI that played away at Spurs. I kind of fell into his arms.”
"I am not sure how many games you saw like this from Adam Lallana?”, Klopp asked afterwards in the knowledge that the England man had delivered one of his most effective performances for Liverpool.
"I know him from Southamptons and he can do 20-30 per cent more," he continued, warming to the theme. "Philippe Coutinho? Do you not think he can play better football than today? Of course, he can.
"Lucas? You don't think he can play balls on the right and left side? Of course he can. Emre Can? Learning between running and passing? He can learn. Milner? The complete football player, the perfect professional. [You think] I should teach them technical aspects? They know. We have to altogether help them to show it."
That would take time as the new manager had been at pains to point out from the beginning and results over those early months bore out that caution, impressive victories away to Chelsea and Manchester City being offset by dispiriting defeats to the likes of Crystal Palace and Watford, with a topsy-turvy 5-4 victory away to Norwich City early in the new year providing a microcosm of the challenge ahead while also producing one of the early iconic moments of the Klopp era.
Despite taking an early lead through Roberto Firmino, Liverpool found themselves 3-1 down to the relegation-threatened Canaries early in the second half only to fight back to lead 4-3 before being pegged back by a 94th minute Sebastian Bassong leveller.
It appeared the Reds would have to make the long trek back from Norfolk with only one point to show for their efforts but deep into stoppage time of stoppage time Lallana, on as a substitute for Jordan Ibe, snatched a dramatic winner following a goalmouth scramble with a cleverly improvised shot struck into the turf which rebounded high into the net that prompted wild celebrations on the touchline that saw Klopp’s glasses get broken in the jubilant melee.
The new manager had promised ‘heavy metal football’ on his arrival and his first few months had already proved this would not be a ride for the faint-hearted, the German revealing it was not the first time his specs had become collateral damage.
Asked about the joyous scenes which greeted Liverpool’s first league win of 2016, Klopp said: “I don’t know, I saw nothing. Usually I have a second pair, but I couldn’t find them. It’s really difficult looking for glasses without glasses. We won with Dortmund for the first time against Bayern Munich and Nuri Sahin broke my glasses. Today it was Adam.
“It may sound crazy when I say we defended better today. We’ve made different mistakes. If you win 5-4 it’s a funny story, but it’s not that funny. We have to solve it.
“Today we conceded four goals after set-plays, but we defended them better. We got all the goals after second ball set plays. Things like this can happen. That’s how life is: solve one problem and you have another one.”
For Lallana, he was just grateful to have been able to make the decisive intervention having picked up a knock in the previous weekend’s home defeat by Manchester United and half-expecting to be left at home with a League Cup semi-final second leg against Stoke to follow the coming midweek.
He explained: “They could easily have said to stay at Melwood and recover for Tuesday, especially with the amount of injuries we’ve got at the minute. Sometimes in football the risks pay off; plenty don’t, but plenty do. I think that risk possibly won us the game.
“It was a great feeling. I’m sure the celebrations summed it up. I think the whole squad, everyone involved, was on the pitch. I’ll take a booking for that one. (After) their goal in the 94th minute I remember asking the ref ‘how long left?’ and he said ‘one minute’.
“The next thing I knew the whistle had gone and we had all three points. It was a great game to be involved in and one you won’t forget too quickly.”
The see-saw nature of Liverpool’s season continued with Stoke eventually being seen off after a penalty shoot-out three days later to secure a Wembley cup final little more than three months after Klopp had taken over.
Their Wembley opponents would be a Manchester City in the final months of Manuel Pellegrini’s stewardship, the Chilean coach's departure at the end of the season and replacement with Pep Guardiola having been announced at the beginning of February.
After ending a five-game winless run with a 6-0 triumph at Aston Villa and seeing off Augsburg to reach set up a Europa League last 16 clash with Manchester United, an injury-hit Reds side featuring Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva pressed into action as an emergency centre-half performed creditably against City in the League Cup final, Lallana again showing his ability to influence games from the bench by playing a big role in Philippe Coutinho’s 83rd-minute equaliser, hitting the post from Daniel Sturridge’s cross with the Brazilian netting the rebound, before being one of three Liverpool players to have spot-kicks in the resulting shoot-out saved by Willy Caballero as Pellegrini's side lifted the trophy.
He was on the mark against the same opposition three days later as Klopp’s men exacted some form of revenge on City with a 3-0 Premier League win at Anfield and a week later played his part by assisting Roberto Firmino for the crucial second goal in the Europa League last 16 first leg win over Manchester United - the fierce rivals’ first ever meeting in European competition - to set the Reds on track for what would be a second cup final of the season.
After a memorable comeback win against Klopp’s former club Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals, it was Lallana who put the seal on another fightback in the semi-finals against Villarreal, a clever outside-of-the-boot flick while falling backwards securing a 3-0 win which overturned the first leg defeat in Spain to set up a final against Europa League specialists Sevilla.
Inevitably Liverpool’s progress in the cups had taken its toll on Premier League performances where the Reds would finish eighth, 21 points behind surprise champions Leicester City, but ahead of the trip to Basel, Lallana revealed how Klopp’s words ahead of the Wembley disappointment against Manchester City had already proved correct.
“In the team meeting before City he said: ‘This will be the first of many finals we will have together.’ The way he said it, the words he used, you just believed there would be more finals, whether it was this year, next year or whenever.
"Three months later we are in another cup final. There is no luck in that. It just shows you his confidence and self-belief and I think that rubs off on the lads, subconsciously or not. ‘The first of many finals,’ he said, and it just stuck in my mind from the moment he said it. He said we would use the experience whether we won at Wembley or not.
"We were on the losing side that day but I certainly learned from it and I’m sure the other players did too. We will be better for it and more prepared for this final.”
Lallana made the starting-line up in Switzerland and had a hand in the move which led to Daniel Sturridge curling home the sublime 35th minute opener which enabled Liverpool to lead at the break but Sevilla, eyeing a hat-trick of Europa League titles having won the competition in the previous two seasons, fought back strongly in the second half to win 3-1 and leave Klopp’s men heartbroken and empty-handed.
Klopp - who had just suffered his fifth consecutive final defeat after losing his last two with Dortmund - famously lifted his dejected players in the post-match function by reiterating his belief first expressed in the Wembley dressing room that these were only the opening salvos of a new era at Anfield, gathering his players and staff on the dancefloor and saying, "'Two hours ago you all felt s***. Now hopefully you all feel better. This is just the start for us. We will play in many more finals."
He would be proved correct again but it would take some time with the immediate objective being to get Liverpool - now left with the prospect of no European football for his first full season in charge - back into the Champions League and the manager was given boardroom backing by being allowed to bring in £30m forward Sadio Mane for Southampton, £25m midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum from Newcastle along with £4.2m defender Ragnar Klavan from Augsburg and free transfers Joel Matip and Loris Karius from Schalke and Mainz 05.
“One of the most pleasant surprises,” was how Klopp described Lallana when reflecting on his first season in charge so it was no surprise the England man found himself in the starting line up away at Arsenal on the opening day of the 2016/17 campaign and he made an immediate impact in what would prove to be his most effective season at Anfield, scoring early in the second half as Liverpool roared into a 4-1 lead having initially gone on goal behind, eventually triumphing 4-3.
Lallana would also grace the opening of Anfield’s new Main Stand a few weeks later with a thunderous strike in a 4-1 win over new champions Leicester, notching again later that month in a 5-1 rout of Hull City as Liverpool took up permanent residency in the top three for the first half of the campaign, a brace in a 3-0 win at Middlesbrough in early December leading Klopp to note the difference in him after more than a year of working together.
"About a year ago I had sat him in the office and I was happy with him but he was like 'I'm not scoring.’
"And I said he wasn't in the right positions. Tonight he was twice in the right position and it was wonderful."
Lallana put pen to paper on a new £110,000-a-week, three-year contract the following February with Klopp outlining his delight in securing the future of a player now fulfilling the role the club had initially envisaged for him and who had become a key element in this new emerging Liverpool side.
“For me it was clear we had to try everything to keep a player like him. He is a very important player for us”, Klopp said.
“It is really nice to have Adam because he jumps out of compact formations and triggers the pressure.
"I heard when I came in what a lot of people said about him before I came in but I actually only knew him from Southampton.
"Since I've been here he has been a really important player for all our development steps which we made - not only for him personally.
"I have a lot of time together with the players but I am not in the dressing room so you need to have players there too and he is one of them.
"I know in the world of football people say when you are 28, 'Why do you want to give a new contract' but you need this mixture of different styles of players, different age groups.”
A New Year’s Eve victory over a Manchester City side still finding their feet in Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge had some Kopites dreaming of a title charge but a dip in form partially caused by Sadio Mane’s departure on African Nations Cup duty and also perhaps by the demands of Klopp’s high-intensity pressing game on a squad still getting used to its requirements caused such dreams to be tempered for a while.
The initial objective of Champions League qualification remained in sight and Liverpool went into the final game of the season at home to Middlesbrough knowing victory would be enough to earn a seat back at the top table of European football.
After a nervy opening with news of rivals for fourth spot Manchester City and Arsenal both leading early on meaning all three points against the already-relegated Teesiders may well be required, Gini Wijnaldum’s 44th-minute opener settled the anxiety around Anfield and, after a Philippe Coutinho free-kick early in the second half, Lallana removed any doubt shortly afterwards to put the seal on a 3-0 triumph and a season of undoubted progress.
Their Champions League return would go on to give Liverpool platform to kick on in a way no-one could truly have imagined at the time but Lallana’s comments at the end of a campaign which saw him rack up a respectable 8 goals in 35 appearances illustrated he knew he and his team-mates would face increased expectations and further challenges for their places in the team.
"Does Champions League qualification mean new players? I think it does.
"I said in the week that we're going to attract big players this summer, especially with having Jurgen Klopp as our manager.
"The new stand - the atmosphere is great. And on top of that with Champions League football, I think we'll see a few big faces coming in."
Mohamed Salah was the first of them for £37m from AS Roma followed by £35m Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal and in January the truly transformative arrival of £75m Virgil van Dijk from Southampton but by then Lallana had been sidelined by the first of a series of injuries which ultimately would restrict him to just six more Premier League starts in the final three years of his Liverpool career.
A serious thigh strain picked up in a pre-season friendly against Atletico Madrid in Munich initially ruled him out for two months and he would not in fact figure in the first team until late November, not getting a first start of the season until the New Year’s Day victory at Burnley.
He was rewarded with another four days later against Everton in the FA Cup and won the penalty which enabled James Milner to give Liverpool the lead in a match made famous for Van Dijk’s late Kop end debut winner but would only start one more match that campaign, the Champions League last 16 second leg tie with FC Porto at Anfield which the Reds had effectively made into a dead rubber by winning the first leg 5-0 in Portugal.
So it was a surprise to many, including the man himself, but a measure of Klopp's faith that when Mohamed Salah, who had scored an astonishing 44-goals in his first season to help take this Liverpool team to a new level, was forced off in Kyiv after his infamous tangle with Sergio Ramos as Liverpool's incredible season reached its crescendo in this Champions League final against Real Madrid, it was Lallana who got the nod to replace the stricken Egyptian from the bench.
“Looking back now, I was petrified”, he admitted.
“Maybe petrified is a bit of a strong word, but looking back I feel like I’m in a position now where I can maybe say that.
“I had a terrible year, it was my first year when it was kind of one injury after another, and I just couldn’t find any sort of rhythm in terms of being on the pitch.
“So I’d just come back from a big, big hamstring injury, I think I’d played 15 minutes of the last game of the [Premier League] season, and I just had no rhythm, no form.
“We’d lost the Champions League final, and I remember kind of after it finished just being relieved I got through the game.
“I couldn’t get near anyone. I couldn’t get near Modric, I couldn’t get near anyone. I was just running around. I felt like a rabbit in the headlights.”
More key arrivals in defensive midfielder Fabinho and goalkeeper Alisson Becker followed that summer and, with the addition of Guinean midfielder Naby Keita and the front three of Salah, Firmino and Mane now well established, Lallana’s chances were further limited.
Having turned 30 in the summer of 2018, he could have been forgiven for agitating for a move elsewhere but his professionalism and personality ensured he remained a popular figure around the dressing room and someone Klopp could rely on if needed, as was shown when he was thrust into the starting line-up for a rumbustious 4-2 home victory over Burnley the following March at the beginning of an epic title run-in which saw Liverpool win their final nine league matches to rack up a record 97 points tally but still fall agonisingly one short of Manchester City.
“His attitude was always incredible so why should I doubt him?”, Klopp asked afterwards.
“Only the football world outside makes a player old too early. I don’t think like that.”
Lallana was an unused substitute in Madrid as the first trophy of the Klopp era finally arrived with the Champions League victory over Tottenham and that summer, with only one year remaining on his Liverpool contract, there was speculation he might depart Anfield.
As Klopp said in March after Lallana had been brought in from the cold to impress in a 4-2 victory at Burnley: “His attitude was always incredible so why should I doubt him? Only the football world outside makes a player old too early. I don’t think like that.”
His experience and footballing acumen meant Klopp still felt there was value in keeping his bit-part role within the squad however and the Liverpool manager tried him out in deeper midfield role during pre-season due to his passing ability and positional nous.
“Adam is the kind of player who can play that and he enjoys this ‘Jorginho’ role – I hope (then Chelsea boss) Maurizio Sarri doesn’t see the games or he will make an offer,” Klopp said.
“It is about getting Adam rhythm, bringing him in early and doing things he is naturally good at: small spaces, passing the ball, and then from time-to-time offering the runs in behind as well and together with Milly that is possible. For us it is another option.
“He needs a bit of luck, like we all do in life. We have to come through without injuries, that would be cool, and then we have a couple of new players, I would say, this season.”
Lallana would again only feature only intermittently but still managed to leave his imprint on a campaign which will be remembered as long as LFC is in existence, the Reds finally ending what became a thirty-year league title drought by obliterating any chance their rivals might have had by winning 26 of the first 27 league matches of the season to eventually become Premier League champions by a whopping 18 points.
The only match Liverpool didn’t win of those first 27 league encounters came in mid October when they trailed bitter rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford going into the final five minutes only for Lallana, on as a substitute, to steer Andy Robertson’s cross at the far post to preserve the Reds’ unbeaten record which would ultimately stretch to 44 games before defeat at Watford the following February.
It was a moment of supreme vindication for Lallana, who only days before had been told by Klopp he could leave at the end of the campaign on a free transfer.
“We have a great relationship and I just said ‘what's it looking like for me next year? I know I'm out of contract and I know I'm not playing regularly’.
“Although I had a pretty big role in the squad around the team, I wanted a bit of honesty. He basically said to me in October, ‘get your agent to start looking for another club’.
“That doesn't mean you're not in my plans or he isn't going to use me. Four days later he brought me on at Old Trafford and I scored the equaliser and I think that shows what type of person Jurgen is. He's very honest.
“He said to me I deserve to be playing more and I deserve more game time and to be playing more. He couldn't offer that to me so from then I had his blessing and the club's blessing to give my agent the go-ahead to speak to other clubs.
“I had to be patient for my chance - we were European champions with a top squad - but I was delighted to come on and make an impact like that.”
History was also made in Qatar as Liverpool became World Club Cup champions, Lallana starting the semi-final against Mexicans’ Monterrey before making an impressive substitute appearance in the final as Brazilians’ Flamengo were eventually overcome in extra time thanks to Robert Firmino’s 99th minute winner and shortly afterwards came another unforgettable moment in a season littered with them.
With Liverpool drawn at home to Everton in the FA Cup third round for the second time in three seasons, Klopp left out many of his big guns with the Reds having just navigated a hectic December programme and was further hampered by skipper James Milner having to be substituted after only nine minutes due to injury.
Along with goalkeeper Adrian, Lallana was the only other player of real experience named in the starting line-up but he stepped up and produced a masterclass of responsible midfield play, shepherding the youngsters around him to gradually help Liverpool gain a foothold in the game as the Toffees threatened to take charge early on, Curtis Jones’ glorious 71st minute winner clinching one of the most impressive results of even that most stellar of campaigns.
Jurgen Klopp after the game literally doffed his cap to Lallana, hailing his performance as ‘unbelievable’, with the midfielder admitting afterwards he had relished the role as ‘babysitter’.
“I was almost babysitting out there at times, but we came into this game with the message: expect to win”, Lallana said.
“I couldn't care less about the average age of the team, we expected to win this. I know how good the young lads are, they train with us every day and it's just about breeding that winning mentality and culture we've got here.
“There were no surprises that we came out with the win today. I'm one of the oldest but also one of the fittest, I felt like I could have kept going.”
The 178th and final appearance of Lallana’s Liverpool career saw him come off the bench to replace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the closing stages of a 2-1 home win over Bournemouth in early March which put the Reds 25 points clear at the top of the league and meant, depending on other results, the title could be clinched in the next game which would be of all places across Stanley Park away to Merseyside neighbours Everton.
The England man would certainly have expected to have figured in at least one of the Liverpool’s final nine league matches but none of them would be played for over three months as football - and the world - stopped due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
By the time, matches prepared to resume in mid June 2020 Lallana’s contract was set to expire but, even though a free transfer to Brighton had by now been lined up, Liverpool took the step of handing a short-term contract extension to ensure he was part of the title run-in and celebrations even if he wouldn’t actually pull on the red shirt again in earnest so as not to jeopardise his move back to the south coast.
"He's had many important games for us, but what he did on the training pitch was absolutely exceptional," Klopp said.
"In the future, when the young players talk about their first two years they will mention Adam Lallana, 100 per cent.
"Not only him, but him as well, because how these guys train in every session is an example for all the others. Look, Adam is, oh my God. It is clear Adam will leave the club in the summer - if it’s still summer, hopefully! If the summer ever starts!
“For now if you ask me about it, I miss already everything about him. In this moment and he is still here.
"But we will miss him. He is one of the most influential players on the training quality I have ever had in my life. He is an incredible professional.
“It was clear Adam would extend his contract and he wants to do that as well, but he will not put any risk on his future or whatever. That is absolutely clear.
“So he is one of the most important players of the time since I am here so i wish him only the best for the future.
“From my point of view he is already a legend here, so he can become a legend somewhere else from next season on.”
Lallana received his well-earned Premier League winners medal alongside his team-mates following a 5-3 victory over Chelsea when Liverpool finally completed their home programme in late July and could not hold back the tears when he paid emotional tribute to what his six years at Anfield had meant to him, even if Klopp’s description of him as a ‘legend’ left him rather bashful.
"Maybe he has gone a bit over the top there! But we are a group of legends, I can definitely see that", Lallana admitted.
"It’s not due to one or two individuals as why we have been so successful - it really is the infrastructure and the manager has created that.
"He’s recruited, he’s let people go when he’s saw fit or necessary, he’s moulded and created the culture that breeds throughout Melwood now. You only need to look at the young lads who are coming through.
"I do feel like I’ve had a bit of a part to play in that over the last couple of years.
"I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it; whilst obviously playing and competing for Liverpool, I’ve enjoyed mentoring the young lads and seeing them do well and progress and do well in training.
"That was me 10, 11, 12 years ago and it’s gone so fast. Life goes so quickly doesn’t it?
"I think it’s so important to try and get that message across to the young lads: enjoy every training session, learn from every training session because the career goes so quickly. My six years have gone in a flash.
"My two kids have grown up in Liverpool, it’s all they know. I've not just built friends and teammates here, I’ve built friends that I see as family forever and that’s where the sadness comes from.
"I’m not leaving Liverpool because you know, I just want to continue to play here and I’m sad about leaving, because it’s the right time for me to leave. I’m desperate for a new challenge, I’m desperate to play a bit more.
"It’s more of the relationships that you create and in a week’s time I could be, I will be somewhere else and not seeing these people that I’ve fought for and fought with over the last six years.
"Listen, I’m still going to be in communication with the majority of the boys and the boss, Carole and Caroline the sweet dinner ladies that we’ve got here that have looked after me for the past six years.
"There are good and bad sides of being a footballer and moving away, but it’s never nice to say goodbye is it really?"
