CHERRIES’ chances of meeting strict financial fair play criteria will receive a major boost once Adam Lallana’s move to Liverpool has gone through.

Dorset resident Lallana, who was on Cherries’ books as a youngster, is set to have a medical on Merseyside ahead of completing a reported £25million transfer from Southampton.

The England international was signed by Saints as a 12-year-old in September 2000 with Cherries receiving £2,000 for the two years he was registered with the club together with a £1,000 finding fee.

Further stage payments were made when Lallana signed scholarship (£5,000) and professional forms (£10,000) for Saints, while an FA tribunal also made provision for the Dorset club to receive a 25 per cent sell-on.

And despite Cherries’ financial problems of the past, including going into administration, the agreement has remained in place and the club is in line to bank a windfall of more than £6m.

The funds, together with the £2.5m received from the sale of last season’s leading goalscorer Lewis Grabban to Norwich City, could help Cherries fall within financial fair play limits.

Championship clubs were permitted to lose a maximum of £8m – or £3m if an owner did not inject equity – during 2013-14 and are due to report figures to the Football League in December.

In April, the Dorset club revealed losses of more than £15m for the financial year to the end of July 2013 and were looking likely to face sanctions for breaking the limits.

However, while Cherries are one of a number of clubs still campaigning for the thresholds to be increased, Lallana’s sale will significantly improve their chances of avoiding any penalties.

Born in St Albans, Lallana and his family moved to Iford when he was five and he soon became a regular at a Monday night football club run by former Cherries youth team boss Terry Wateridge.

The youngster also became a member of Littledown Juniors and was soon invited by Wateridge to join the AFC Bournemouth centre of excellence.

In a recent interview with the Daily Echo, Wateridge said: “We didn’t want to lose him and fought hard to keep him. He may have only been 12 at the time but you know you have a good player and you don’t want to lose them. My job was to keep him but I couldn’t and that is why I wanted compensation for him.”

Meanwhile, former Cherries boss Paul Groves has been appointed first-team coach by League One outfit Crawley Town.