Adam Lallana attracting interest - but Southampton unlikely to sell

The 21-year-old’s double in Tuesday’s 3-1 win at Hartlepool took his tally for the season to 11 in all competitions.

He is now Saints’ first out-and-out midfielder since Dave Armstrong, in the mid-1980s, to break into double figures.

Hartlepool boss Chris Turner said after Saints’ 3-1 victory that Alan Pardew had told him top flight sides had been interested in the player.

Wolves were understood to have tabled a £500,000 offer in the summer – a figure then head coach Mark Wotte described as “derisory”. Fellow topflight side Stoke were also said to be interested, as were Fulham before that.

Scouts watching Lallana’s performances of late are sure to have been impressed – and Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan and Preston manager Alan Irvine were both at Hartlepool’s Victoria Park to witness his inspirational display.

It adds further fuel to the fire that Lallana will be a target of Championship and possibly Premier League sides when the window reopens.

Having recaptured the form that saw him earn an England Under-21 call-up early last season, it is no surprise speculation is starting to brew again.

However, any club will do well to prise away a player that has committed himself to Saints, who in turn have continuously said it has no intention of letting him go.