Saw this when it broke last night. It's been in the offing for a few weeks now but I wasn't going to say anything until it was official.
'Thoughts?' ..... Fantastic news to get another key player both locked down for the long haul and rewarded for his brilliant play this year. (So much for the tired arl rhetoric, not least from stupid, reactionary L'pool fans, that FSG refuse to spend any money.)
I find it amazing how under appreciated he still is by many. Real intelligent, technically fantastic footballer who always plays off the front foot looking to create something. The only thing he lacks that keeps him out of the very top echelon for me is that real pace to break away. Which has been negated by the managers inspired decision to move him inside this year where he doesn't so much need it and can just do what he does. Now, he's been able to play on his strengths and showcase just how technically good he is in small spaces, using his quick feet and intelligence to break free of his direct opponent. Which has lead to him arriving late into the box and finding space to create havoc. He just keeps everything ticking over and pushing L'pool forward. You then throw in his ridiculous workmate and fitness (is there any fitter footballer in this league? Certainly not by the #'s of the record setting ground he covers game on game. Fella's a freak of an athletic specimen), and it's easy to see why he's so integral to Klopp's system and one of the first names down on the team sheet.
Even if you get to the stage where a Lallana or the like is just quality depth on your bench when better quality is signed (I don't think he will be like for a whiles yet as Jürgen clearly loves him and most everything good we do stems from him. Along with him being the hardest working and most ridiculously fit player we possesses as mentioned which is quite the turnaround from the guy who couldn't get through 60 minutes when Klopp first arrived); how is that possibly a bad thing?
We've seen the past few months that after the first XI, there's a drop off in quality and at worse case Adam being an option on the bench over a Lucas or still developing Can (who's a whole other subject) would be a massive step forward in that regard.
Some very prudent moves going on from Edwards tying down our best players Klopp wants without going stupid on wages beyond our means. As much a part of squad building as the sorely needed new additions.
Replacing an English player (that's the other KEY thing people forget. The 'home grown' quota that goes into the make up of a PL squad today) of anything like the caliber of Lallana would cost a pretty penny and then some.