Former Southampton boss George Burley believes Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana is better with the ball at his feet than both Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Lallana came through the Saints' academy set-up alongside Bale and Walcott and Burley, who was the club's manager at the time, believes the Reds midfielder showed more on-ball prowess than both the Real Madrid and Arsenal stars.

"On the ball he is probably better than [Walcott and Bale], but he was a bit of a later developer than those two," Burley told Sky Sports.

"I gave him his debut at Southampton but it took him a lot longer to establish himself in the first-team.

"He didn't have that physical prowess of Gareth or the pace of Theo but we always knew he was going to be a top class player when he reached 18 or 19 and that's exactly what happened.

"He was always a very clever player who would play between the lines or off a striker, he had very quick feet, and great vision."