With Adam Lallana's future at Liverpool far from certain after the signing of Danny Ings and the promise of more to follow, could a return to St Mary's be on the cards.

The departure of Adam Lallana to Liverpool hurt Saints fans far more than any of the other departures last summer, the reason for that was that he was the one that was the most vital to the way that Saints played.

However his time at Liverpool was not great last season, it was not helped by an injury in pre season followed by several others during the course of the regular season, however his failure to make a big impression, one that Liverpool fans might have expected given the year he had just had for Saints and his big fee was as much the fault of Brendan Rodgers and his inability to know his best formation and indeed best players in that line up, as it was Lallana's.

Now with the signing of Danny Ing's & James Milner Lallana's chances of a place in the starting line up have diminished further and even if Raheem Sterling should depart, it would still leave him far from an automatic choice.

In the centre of the park it seems James Milner and Jordan Henderson will be guaranteed a start and behind them Rodgers will need a defensive midfielder, either Emre can, Lucas Leiva or a new signing.

With Ing's and Sturridge set to be two of a striking three front that will leave Lallana scrambling for a game out wide, if Sterling stays that will be made even harder, but even if Sterling should depart then he still has to overcome Phillipe Coutinho who on current form will be slotted in somewhere

This isn't even taking into account that Rodger's himself doesn't seem to have much of a clue as to what is his best line up, is it 4-3-3 or is it a diamond formation or even a 4-3-2-1 ?
Lallana's game isn't suited to playing in a deeper midfield role, so he can only work within the front three of a 4-3-3 shape or the attacking midfield three in a 4-2-3-1 shape.

Whichever way though it is hard to see where Lallana will slot in given his spot in the Anfield pecking order and with more signings in the pipeline it seems that he will be far from a guaranteed place in the starting line up and will be used mainly as an option off the bench with a few games in the cup competitions being his main starting opportunities.

So there are two questions here, the first is whether Adam will be happy with this role and the impact it could have on his England career and secondly will Liverpool be happy to have spend £23 million or so on the player for this to be his role at the club.

So in the coming weeks both club and player will be analysing the situation and asking themselves whether now is the time to cut their losses.

If that is the case then in reality there are only two options for Lallana, the first is the hope that perhaps his old boss at St Mary's Mauricio Pochettino might be interested in taking him to Spurs. The second is a return to St Mary's.

But would this be acceptable to Lallana himself or Saints supporters, the player may feel that he would like another season at Anfield in the hope that he will recapture his form and get more game time, he may feel that its admitting failure to return to St Mary's with his tail between his legs so to speak.

Then there are the Saints fans, they felt there was a bad taste left in the mouth with the circumstances regarding Lallana's departure, would they be prepared to accept him back ?

My view is that there was more to the situation last summer than meets the eye, yes Lallana could have behaved in a better way, but then again the Club caught up in a situation they were ill prepared for given the boardroom upheaval several month's earlier were caught on the hop and there are things that they would have done differently now.

A year ago if the situation had been managed better by both parties then the bitter taste would have been avoided, Adam Lallana had been a great servant to Saints in many respects he deserved his move more than anyone else who left, he had paid his dues, he had remained loyal in the bad times of 2009, it wa sad more than anything else that it ended as it did.

If Saints had the opportunity to get him back at St Mary's as long as the price was right, then I for one would be in favour of it.

I have no insider knowledge on this, this article is merely a comment after reading stories elsewhere that Lallana may struggle to get a game at Anfield next season and contemplating that his options to move may be limited and that being the case we should never say never.

Photo: Action Images

A1079 added 16:38 - Jun 8 However, unlikely this may be, if there was a chance of Lallana returning, I would not want us, as fans, to do a repeat of the Hoddle situation and spit our dummy out and say not in a million years. I would rather he played for us than anyone else, and who amongst has not made a wrong decision in life. Also, if we get him back for less than Liverpool paid for him, that would not be bad business. Having said all that, I cannot see it happening, not this year anyway, but it is not inconceivable that the situation may arise in the not too distant future.

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Jesus_02 added 17:05 - Jun 8 Lallana dealt with things very badly - Toby has done better and he was only a loanee after all. Having said that 8-10m and I would jump at the chance to have a player of his quality that would be less likely to make the same mistake. However a far more likely scenario is that he plays a bit part for Liverpool and ends up signing for Stoke in a couple of years. Probably around the time Liverpool nosedive because of FFP

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dirk_doone added 17:07 - Jun 8 I'd love to see him back here, but I think it's very unlikely.
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A1079 added 17:18 - Jun 8 Lallana did not handle it well, though how much of that was down to media and others influences (i.e our ex-manager, agent, Rodgers, etc) playing a part I am not so sure, but clearly he could and should have been more professional. I suspect, though I don't know, in hindsight he probably regrets that aspect of his move and would probably do it differently if it were to arise again. Interestingly, others that are seemingly seeking a potential move this summer from St Marys have been more circumspect about how they have handled it and voiced their views, having probably learnt from the likes of Lallana etc last year. But, the man that never makes a mistake, never makes anything.

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compello added 17:25 - Jun 8 Come on. His wages mean he will stay at Liverpool. We won't match his wages so he won't come back.
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heroholmes1 added 17:31 - Jun 8 No player has given me more pleasure watching Saints since Matt Le tiss. He and Lambert inspired and whole generation of school kids to where the shirt and support saints .His contribution to our club in those 6 or 7 seasons was shouldn't be underestimated. We would not so risen so quickly without him. Oxlade Chamberlain took all that training, care, expertise and development and gave nothing back, yet gets a standing ovation when he comes back. .

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corkcitysaint added 17:54 - Jun 8 Don't forget the ego.. I doubt his ego would let him fly back down south to a "smaller" club if things didn't work out.
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SonicBoom added 18:53 - Jun 8 This is frankly ridiculous. He went to Liverpool to play with better player's and make more money. It wasn't the best season but he was better than most of their signings. I'm sure he thinks his second year will be better, he'll be more settled and depending who they sign he might find that he fits in the team. Nick is stretching things greatly if he seriously thinks he'll be back here. With his ego and his acrimonious departure I would venture that a return to southampton is just about the least likely option. A non story.

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Stephen added 18:56 - Jun 8 Obviously you are toying with us. I know there is a dearth of news now that the footy season has closed. We did a great deal by selling Lalanna for £25M. He really wasn't worth that much. Fans liked him because of his ball skills and overlooked his lack of strategic / tactical vision. When he was made captain he looked completely out of his depth for at least 10 games until he realised he'd never be able to work it out. Of course there is his complete lack of loyalty which precludes him ever returning even as a coach. We have moved on and so has he.

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GeordieSaint added 19:05 - Jun 8 The liverpool fans I speak to all like him, they see the skill and effort. He was never going to have the team built around him at a huge club like that and would have known that. I totally agree with heroholmes in that he has been my favourite player to watch since matty, incredible on the ball, and it would be incredible to have him back. I still wish I had got lambert on the back of my england shirt last year though.

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schatfield added 08:56 - Jun 9 never going to happen. You have forgotten the massive wages he is now on at Liverpool. We wont pay that, so he will stay (or go to Spurs)
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Zambucco added 07:02 - Jun 12 There is an old saying "someone with no future, always go back to their past" I'd have him back
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