What Does the Future Hold for Adam Lallana at Liverpool?

Of the £107 million Liverpool spent last summer, over 20 percent went on the signing of Adam Lallana—the Southampton midfielder who was earmarked as Brendan Rodgers' number one target.

Lallana arrived at Anfield for an initial £23 million, fresh from being named in the PFA Team of the Year in his second season in the Premier League.

Having thrived in a wide attacking role in Southampton's 4-2-3-1 formation, that's presumably how Rodgers intended to use the Englishman.

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But an injury in his first week of pre-season training saw Lallana miss the start to the season, setting the tone for his first year with the Reds where he suffered four injuries in total, making for a stop-start campaign.

Still, he started 32 games in all competitions—scoring six goals—showing how much faith Rodgers had in him.

On the whole, though, it was a far from convincing first season for the 27-year-old. He, like fellow Southampton duo Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert, arrived as one of the more experienced and senior pros of the signings last summer. The trio's failure to settle certainly contributed to Liverpool's disappointing 2014/15 campaign.

In many ways, Lallana personified Liverpool's campaign—struggling for consistent form, going missing in the big games and looking physically fragile too often.

With Liverpool already possessing two of the most promising attacking midfielders in the country in the form of Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling, spending such a vast sum on Lallana seemed somewhat inefficient. Presumably, Rodgers wanted that trio to work behind Daniel Sturridge and implement Liverpool's high pressing game.

Of course, injury to Sturridge meant we barely ever saw that combination while problems deeper in midfield saw the whole team's shape change.

With doubts over Sterling's future at Liverpool this summer, could Lallana be the one to benefit from the wantaway attacker's possible departure?

Next season

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Much of Lallana's future at Liverpool depends largely on the formation Rodgers finally settles on. Last season saw the manager change formation far too often, sometimes three or even four times in one match. This helped nobody.

With the arrival of James Milner from Manchester City, Liverpool's midfield options are somewhat overstocked. The 29-year-old has reportedly been promised a central midfield role at the club.

Jordan Henderson's name on the teamsheet is guaranteed while one of Emre Can, Lucas Leiva or a new singing is required to hold things together as the defensive midfielder.

Within a 4-3-3, that means Coutinho moving into the attacking three, with Lallana left to battle for the other supporting wide forward.

Within a midfield diamond, that means Coutinho at the tip of the diamond and two strikers up front—no room for Lallana.

Alternatively, Rodgers may opt to pair Milner and Henderson within a 4-2-3-1, leaving Lallana, Coutinho and Sterling or one other as the three attacking midfielders.

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. He could rotate/provide backup to Coutinho at the top of the diamond but would be far less effective than the Brazilian.

Goals

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Lallana would have been disappointed with his return of five goals and three assists in the league last season—significantly less than the nine goals and six assists he had with Southampton the year before.

He must target those sort of numbers in 2015/16—aiming for 10 goals and five assists in the league.

For Liverpool's lack of strikers last season, their attacking midfielders also failed to contribute enough. Coutinho had just five league goals, Henderson just six—less than the target Rodgers had given him in pre-season of "upwards of 10."

Lallana, Coutinho and Henderson must contribute more goals themselves next season, relieving the burden on whichever forwards eventually line up in Rodgers' attack.

Squad player

It's difficult to see Lallana ever quite becoming a guaranteed starter for Liverpool. He'll play a good percent of games, of course, and be expected to contribute from the bench, too.

He's a solid enough squad player who should be starting domestic cup games, Europa League fixtures and his fair share of Premier League games but not necessarily in the team for the biggest games of the season.

Speaking financially and where Liverpool are at the moment, £23 million is a lot of money to have spent on a squad player.