Jurgen Klopp: England must take Adam Lallana to the World Cup

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has told Gareth Southgate he would be crazy to leave Adam Lallana out of  England’s World Cup squad.

Lallana has only played 129 minutes in the Premier League for Liverpool this season having missed the first part of the campaign with a thigh injury.

The 29-year-old has been eased back into action with just two starts – both 2-1 wins, against Burnley in the league and Everton in the FA Cup – since he returned at the end of November.

Klopp’s caution with the creative midfielder has led to concerns over whether he will get sufficient game time before the tournament in Russia. However, following Philippe Coutinho’s £142 million sale to Barcelona, Lallana is expected to feature prominently in the second half of the season.

England manager Southgate must then decide whether to call up Lallana for their friendlies against Holland and Italy in March.

Klopp, who takes his team to face Swansea City on Monday, acknowledged that Lallana needs to build up fitness, but insists he should be a key part of the World Cup plans for the summer.

“If Mr Southgate can leave Adam out of his squad, wow, then really I congratulate you already for winning the World Cup!” Klopp said with more than a hint of sarcasm. “Because then it is a squad like I can’t imagine how strong.

“Adam was out for half-a-season and like all players he needs all his physical strength. In a few weeks he will be 100 per cent. He is really close. He could play so far but you saw when he played with all the genius moments he had, very decisive moments, you could see that he really feels the intensity.

“He had a big muscle injury so we cannot push him through, and say ‘Come on, try it again, try it again’. That is impossible.

“It is not that Adam is the replacement for Coutinho but he is back. Cool. It is another creative, offensive midfield player. Does he have the same free-kick as Philippe? No, but there are a lot of things he can do. He can make us stronger in these situations.”

Klopp claims no Liverpool player would want to quit Anfield and join one of their Premier League rivals during the January transfer window.

Arsenal are poised to sell Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United but even though Coutinho left for Barcelona, it would have been a different if an English club had been in for the Brazilian.

“No Liverpool player of this squad would leave,” Klopp insisted, “because of their commitment to the club.

“It’s just impossible. No player is here, and then says ‘OK, come on, in the middle of the season I go there or there’ to a [top] six club. I really cannot see that situation.

“It doesn’t mean that players can’t leave the club but we have to make sure that it doesn’t happen often that a player wants to leave.”

Klopp also agreed that Liverpool are not in a rush to spend the cash banked from Coutinho’s sale and are happy to wait until the summer to conduct more transfer business.

“Absolutely,” added the German. “Obviously we don’t hesitate to spend the money, but it is not about the  moment, it is about making the right decision. It’s not about doing something to cool the situation down or show the people we don’t sleep.”