A Football Insider report has suggested that Leeds United’s James Milner interest is ‘long term.’
The quote from Football Insider’s report says: “United’s interest in Milner is more long-term but the lifelong Whites fan has made no secret of his desire to end his career at the club where he graduated from the academy into the first team aged 16.”
Milner has played 12 Premier League games and five UEFA Champions League matches for Liverpool so far this season, but most of the 33-year-old’s success has come in the domestic league, with Milner scoring once and assisting twice, whereas, in Europe, the midfielder is yet to score for the Reds this campaign and has assisted just once.
Who would you start?
Kalvin Phillips
James Milner
The veteran currently has a Transfermarkt value of £13.5m, although it’s highly unlikely Leeds would pay anywhere near that amount of money. With the Peacocks currently playing in the Championship, this is deal would most likely take place if they can gain promotion back to the Premier League this season.
However, they may be able to get their former academy graduate back without having to hand Liverpool a penny, as the versatile ace’s current deal at Anfield is set to expire at the end of the season (per Transfermarkt).
Milner would have to compete against the up-and-coming Kalvin Phillips, who is nine years younger than the Liverpool midfielder and also currently has one goal and two assists for Marcelo Bielsa’s side. It would be very interesting to see who Bielsa would start, would he go for youth or experience? We reckon the Argentine would go for youth, considering he has shown a fondness to his young players in the past, whether that be at Leeds or elsewhere.
Verdict
This deal doesn’t really make a lot of business sense for Leeds, however, it’s a move that the Peacocks fans would surely love and doesn’t seem completely impossible. However, moving to Leeds would likely require a wage cut and a cut in-game time for Milner, so it would be down to whether the 33-year-old would be happy with those terms. But, with football being a strange game at times, it would be difficult to completely rule out a return to Elland Road in the future.