The Athletic's Southampton correspondent Carl Anka has revealed the chances of Adam Lallana returning to St Mary's.

Currently, the England international finds himself soon-to-be out of contract at Liverpool, having joined the Reds in a deal worth £25m back in 2014.

The Evening Standard revealed that the Merseysiders are unlikely to offer Lallana a new contract, meaning that he may well be available on a free this summer - he has made just three Premier League starts this season under Jurgen Klopp.

Darren Bent recently tipped the 31-year-old for a return to St Mary's, although Anka has now given his verdict on the possibility of that happening.

What did he say?

When asked the question by us in a Q&A session on Friday, Anka said: "I heard Darren Bent say this and honestly I don't see it happening atm (at the moment).

"I imagine wages and injury history would be a concern, but he is capable of playing as a CM in a high pressing system. Gut feeling tells me he's likely to end up at a club like Leicester City - Champions League football, able to give him some football, but not too much."

Would add depth to a weak department

While bringing Lallana back to the club probably wouldn't be the wisest move given his £110k-a-week wages and also the fact that he is 31 years of age, his return would actually help add depth to an area which is fairly weak under Ralph Hasenhuttl right now.

As things stand, the former RB Leipzig boss has just Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu as senior centre-midfield options, while academy graduate Will Smallbone could also be considered an option although he is vastly inexperienced - he has made just one appearance for the first-team.

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However, any chance of a potential return for the Champions League winner has had cold water poured on it by Anka, who doubts that the Liverpool No.20 will be returning to the place where he made his name.

In other news, Southampton have tweeted a hilarious Valentine's Day themed post involving Ralph Hasenhuttl...