Dale Stephens is not surprised new signing Adam Lallana has had such a stellar career, having played alongside him at the start of his career.
And he believes Lallana’s arrival will improve the club on and off the pitch.
Stephens was 19 when he joined Southampton on loan in 2011 and played the last six games of the season as Saints were promoted automatically from League One behind champions Albion.
“Even then you could see the talent he had,” said Stephens. “He was playing in League One, but you could see his ability was way higher than that and it’s no surprise to me that he’s had the career he’s had.”
Lallana has gone on to play for England in World Cup and European Championship finals and helped Liverpool win the Premier League title last season before heading south.
Stephens added, “Adam is a top signing. He comes from a culture at Liverpool where you are used to winning and to setting high standards so I think his presence will help everyone in our squad as well.”
Albion finished last season in 15th and achieved a club record points total in the Premier League and Stephens is confident they can improve on that when the new campaign kicks off at home to Chelsea on 14th September.
“We did some good stuff and some indifferent stuff last season but it was a learning curve – we had a new coach and new philosophy as well as some new players to get used to,” he said.
“We feel we’re in a much better position going into this season because last year everything was new. I don’t feel we were too far away from being a top side.
“We had quite a few draws which could have been wins and I feel like we were unlucky rather than lucky in most games.
“Those experiences will stand us in good stead confidence-wise because we competed against a lot of good teams and had some success. If we can carry that forward with better players like Adam coming in, hopefully we can go from strength-to-strength.”