Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana is closing in on an exit from the club this summer with the outgoing European champions not expected to offer the England international a new deal.

His contract at Liverpool will expire this summer thus bringing an end to his five-year stay at Anfield. His time at Liverpool has been successful but he has been greatly limited due to his several injury problems.

Despite his injury problems at Liverpool over the past few years, Adam Lallana is still a quality player as witnessed in bits and pieces over the course of the present season suspended because of the viral disease known as Coronavirus.

The £25m signing from fellow Premier League club Southampton in 2015 was part of the Reds squad that ended the club’s lengthy trophy drought with the Champions League triumph last season. Liverpool had gone seven years without a single trophy until last season when Lallana and Liverpool beat fellow Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Champions League final.

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His greatest contribution at Liverpool this season was when he came off the bench to score the late equaliser for his team in a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in October 2019. Lallana was able to preserve the Reds’ unbeaten run until the start of last month when a 3-0 loss at Watford ended that run.

Adam Lallana would be a sought after free agent this summer when he leaves Liverpool and several English clubs like Leicester City, Arsenal and Southampton have been linked with a move for him. Here are the top three clubs for the English playmaker:

1. Leicester City – Adam Lallana could be the direct replacement for James Maddison at Leicester City. Maddison is a big target for Manchester United.

2. Southampton – A sensational return to former club Southampton could be on the cards this summer. The ex-Saints skipper left the club in a controversial manner for Liverpool in 2015

3. Arsenal – The Gunners are also in the running to sign him as a free agent.

Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was widely applauded after he played a prominent role to help the club fend off Arsenal in the race to sign English defender Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers in 2011. Manchester United had to part ways with £16m to sign the then young prospect ahead of rivals Arsenal and their manager Arsene Wenger.

It is safe to say that Phil Jones has not matched the same tenacity shown by the Red Devils off the pitch with his performances on the pitch. Phil Jones was expected to be a part of a formidable centre back partnership with Chris Smalling for both club (Manchester United) and country (England) for many years to come but that has not happened with the two players facing respective bleak futures at Old Trafford.

Chris Smalling was a £10m signing from Fulham in 2010 and he had to leave Manchester United for Italian side AS Roma on loan at the start of the season to accommodate the signing of Harry Maguire in the Red Devils defence. Smalling is on course to make his loan move to Italy permanent with Roma keen to sign him on a long-term deal after his impressive loan spell at the club.

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Phil Jones would be best advised to follow in the footsteps of former club and national team colleague Chris Smalling as he tries to revive his career which has stagnated at Manchester United. The 28-year-old has been linked with a lot of English clubs over  the last two transfer windows and this summer could be the perfect time for him to finally leave the Red Devils.

Southampton and Leicester City are some of the Premier League teams previously touted as a possible destination for Phil Jones who has 27 caps for England. He has scored two goals in 256 league games at Manchester United.

For now, he’s behind Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe in the centre back pecking order at his club and more central defenders might be signed in the summer.

The suspension of Premier League due to the Coronavirus menace came at a wrong time for some clubs including West London giants Chelsea and their ageing striker Olivier Giroud.

Giroud and Chelsea were getting their groove back before the Coronavirus pandemic forced matches to be suspended until further notice.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard didn’t fancy French international Giroud as his main striker until February when results had completely taken a turn for the worse, especially in the Premier League. Blues boss Lampard started with Tammy Abraham as his first-choice striker, while Michy Batshuayi was his understudy leaving Olivier Giroud to be the third choice striker despite being the most experienced of the three players.

Giroud became the third choice striker under Frank Lampard and that restricted him to few leagues starts before February 2020 when he became the first choice partly because of the injury to Tammy Abraham as well as the inability of the aforementioned Batshuayi to fill the vacant striker void.

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Olivier Giroud is a World Cup winner having led the line for France at the last edition of the tournament in Russia some two years ago and all of his experience came to the fore for the Blues as he was a major catalyst as Chelsea improved their league results which had been very poor either side of the winter.

Lampard introduced Giroud back into the Chelsea starting XI during the home London Derby clash with Tottenham Hotspur and that decision led to 7 points from three Premier League clashes until the league was suspended. Giroud scored twice and also provided three assists in those three league games as he helped Chelsea maintain their place in the top four.

Giroud will be a free agent in the next few months but he would be hoping that he has done enough to get a new contract at Stamford Bridge despite coming close to leaving the club to Inter Milan FC of Italy in January. The picture will definitely be clearer in the coming weeks.

Premier League clubs have been left in a spot of bother as regards the players whose contract will expire this summer and this is due to the suspension of all things football including the top flight of English football.

When Premier League football will resume is yet to be certain though the 20 clubs agreed for April 30 which is not feasible going by the struggles of breaking free the dreaded Coronavirus. Football was suspended across the world because of the virus which started from Wuhan city in China.

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The uncertainty of a return date for the Premier League has left the 20 clubs with decisions to make concerning the players with contracts up by the end of May. Here are five of the best from those players:

1. Olivier Giroud – The French international hardly played football for Chelsea this season until February when manager Frank Lampard turned to him to partly save the club from losing their grip on a Champions League spot. Giroud was the third choice striker behind Tammy Abraham and Michy Batshuayi. The Frenchman was brought back into the Chelsea XI for the Spurs game in February and has scored two goals in three league games since then.

2. Claudio Bravo – The Manchester City shot-stopper is the back up to first-choice Ederson Moraes. The Chilean international has spent four years at the Etihad Stadium since his transfer from Barcelona.

3. Willian – The Brazilian winger is one of three Chelsea players who will be a free agent in the summer. He has been one of the best players at Stamford Bridge this season.

4. Jan Vertoghen – Age is not on the side of the Tottenham Hotspur centre back but the Belgian international is still a quality defender.

5. Pedro Rodriguez – Alongside Chelsea teammates Willian and Olivier Giroud, Spanish international Pedro Rodriguez will also be a free agent this summer.

Manchester United star Jesse Lingard has seen his playing minutes decrease at the club this season after the England international failed to repay the fate shown in him by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

His best form under Solskjaer came in the opening weeks of the Norwegian manager’s reign at Old Trafford which started in December. Since then, the Manchester United Academy graduate has passed up chance after chance to show that he merits a regular spot in the starting XI.

Jesse Lingard played majorly as the attacker behind the central striker under Solskjaer this season and had to contend with Andreas Pereira for that spot until the signing of Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon.

Manchester United paid £47m for the aforementioned Bruno Fernandes and it could rise to £68m based on add-ons and bonuses. The Portuguese international has made the role of the attacker behind the sole striker his own since his signing in the January winter transfer window.

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Lingard has not only lost his place in the Manchester United starting XI though his future at the Theatre of Dreams is also up in the air after leaving manager Solskjaer frustrated with his lack of productivity in recent weeks and months.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been heavily criticised for his lack of emotions on the sidelines and it was a big surprise for many fans when he lashed out at Lingard for losing possession on several occasions during the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg clash with Manchester City.

Jesse Lingard won’t be short of suitors if Manchester United decide to sell him in the summer especially after he changed his agent to the renowned Mino Raiola. Here are the top three clubs for him:

1. AC Milan – The seven-time champions are the favourites to sign Jesse Lingard this summer due to his affiliation with Jesse Lingard.

2. Leicester City – The former Premier League champions have also been linked with the England international.

3. Lyon – The French giants are one of the clubs interested in him.

Just like what Manchester United have to face with midfielder Paul Pogba this summer, Arsenal will also be confronted with the future of club skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in North London.

Aubameyang has been a wonderful servant for Arsenal in his three years and there’s little or no doubt about that as the focus is on the Gunners to retain his services for the long haul. The Gabonese international has one year left on his Arsenal contract and that makes the Gunners susceptible to losing his services with other big European teams like Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid all rumoured to be interested in him.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is able to lay claim to the title of the most productive Arsenal player over the last two seasons based on his performances and only shot-stopper Bernd Leno comes close. The Gabonese striker scored 31 goals for the Gunners last season in all competitions.

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22 of those 31 goals came in the Premier League and that was enough to earn him the joint Golden Boot Award alongside the Liverpool duo of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. He has already scored 17 league goals before the season was called off temporarily due to Coronavirus and only Leicester City star Jamie Vardy has scored more (19 goals).

One of the preferences for manager Mikel Arteta and Arsenal this summer is to retain the services of Aubameyang but that is dependent on the ability of the club to convince the player that his personal targets and aspirations can be met.

Gabonese international Aubameyang wants to win trophies as he enters the last lap of his football career but Arsenal do not look like a club that can meet that target at the moment. Arsenal won’t be facing the problem of hanging on to his services as they have to find a suitable replacement for him if he decides to leave the club.

Merseyside giants Liverpool have arguably been the most unlucky team in the title race during the Premier League era but the word ‘unlucky’ won’t be enough to qualify their situation if the Reds fail to win the league this season after putting a lot of work to get to a very good position.

Before the current Premier League season was suspended as a result of the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic, Liverpool needed two victories to win the league title for the first time in three decades.

Liverpool are the most successful club in England in trophy terms and this makes it more remarkable cum surprising that they are yet to taste Premier League title success despite coming close on a number of occasions. Their fans are widely regarded by many as the most intense on the European football scene but they are yet to see the club win the league in 30 years.

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Liverpool were the most successful team in the English league two decades ago with 18 titles but their lack of win over the years paved the way for arch-rivals Manchester United to overtake them. The Red Devils have 20 league titles with the final one coming during the last season of legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson (2012/13 campaign).

Two instances of Liverpool coming close to winning the Premier League title readily jumps to mind. During the 2013/14 season, Liverpool was closing in on their first title in the Premier League era with three games left to play before a costly slip by then club skipper Steven Gerrard initiated their collapse.

Liverpool needed seven points from those three games and they were only able to record just four points to hand Manchester City the title. The second instance was last season when the Reds missed out on the league title to Manchester City again by just one point.

This season, Liverpool have a 25-point advantage at the top of the table but that would count for nothing if the current league campaign is not finished because of Coronavirus. It would be the most Liverpool thing for Liverpool to be denied a first league title in 30 years by Coronavirus after the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City had stopped them over the years.

One of the biggest questions that Manchester United will have to answer whenever football escapes from the claws of Coronavirus is the future of star player Paul Pogba at the club.

For now, French midfielder Paul Pogba and Manchester United have been forced to stay at home because of the aforementioned Coronavirus which has left virtually all sporting events useless in the past weeks.

The Premier League had to suspend the season as a result of Coronavirus and whether it is completed or not, the future of Pogba at Manchester United is expected to be at the front pages of British media outlets in the coming weeks.

Paul Pogba has two years left on his present deal with the Old Trafford side including the one year from the extra year clause in the contract signed by him when he returned to English football some four years ago in a then world-record deal. He left Italian champions Juventus for Manchester United for £89m in the summer of 2016 after spending four fruitful years in Turin.

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Pogba has not been able to reproduce his sparkling Juventus form for Manchester United though it must be pointed out that the Manchester United Academy player has flattered deceive on several occasions.

He spoke about his desire to leave Manchester United last summer and the challenge for the Red Devils would be to retain his services at the club since the task of replacing him could even be harder than keeping him happy at the club. After his admission last summer, Manchester United still managed to hang on to him but that has not been productive due to an ankle issue that has reduced him to just eight matches in all competitions this season.

Pogba is not short of suitors if he wants to leave the Red Devils with former club Juventus and Real Madrid interested in him.