10 Boyhood Everton Fans The Club Should Have Signed
6. Adam Lallana
“I was an Everton fan. Growing up my dad used to support Everton in the Gary Lineker days, when they were doing well so that’s the reason I started following them. But when I was supporting them Everton always seemed to be fighting relegation - I seem to remember there were a lot of tears! It was always really really tough for me to get to many of the games, as we didn’t live in the city. I went to two or three but not a derby.” - Adam Lallana, September 2014.
Another player to have ended up at Anfield, belying his boyhood aspirations of representing the Toffees, Adam Lallana would have made a splendid signing for Everton. Under David Moyes, Everton weren’t big on filling their team with bucket loads of pace, relying instead on the expansive, reverted widemen such as Steven Pienaar, Mikel Arteta and Landon Donovan - players that possessed a high level of technical skill and were able to produce some brilliant stuff on the flanks.
Following a slow start to his Reds career, the 28-year-old has emerged as a firm favourite under Jurgen Klopp - although he has a fight on his hands to see off competition from the likes of Gini Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino for a starting position this season.