Manchester City midfielder James Milner signs for Liverpool

James Milner is set to join the Anfield outfit from Manchester City. Cronan Yu explores what the move means to Liverpool’s future ambitions. 

English Premier League giants Liverpool has confirmed that James Milner will leave Manchester City for the Anfield outfit pending the outcome of a medical.

The England international has agreed personal terms and is set to join the club on a free transfer once, the club has announced.

“The Reds have agreed personal terms with the England international, who will join the club on a free transfer on July 1 after his contract at the Etihad Stadium has expired,” a statement from the club read.

“Milner will arrive at Anfield having lifted two Barclays Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup during his five-year spell with City.

“The 29-year-old is also firmly established as a regular for England and has notched 53 caps to date.

“Having also represented Leeds United, Newcastle United and Aston Villa, Milner has lined up against Liverpool 24 times in total during the course of his career.”

Milner suffered an underwhelming season at the Etihad Stadium. Despite a promising start to the season, Pellegrini’s men ended without claiming a single piece of silverware after finishing in second place in the Premier League, eight points behind champions Chelsea and were knocked out in the quarter-final stage of the Champions League by Barcelona.

In February, the Daily Star published rumours that Brendan Rodgers was potentially looking at acquiring Milner to fill the void left behind by the now-departed Steven Gerrard.

It was also reported that, earlier in the year, Milner had rejected an offer made to him by Manchester City, and hinted at the prospect that there would be no need to improve the contract, citing his ‘rotation’ role at the club as the possible reason behind his disillusionment at the club.

Rodgers, despite the criticism that he endures, has always promoted English talent and has always tried to retain an English core to his sides. His relationship with Jordan Henderson in the English set-up is a bonus.

The fact is, Milner encompasses many of the key attributes that Gerrard himself has. While he may not be as good as Gerrard was at his peak, nor have the ability to be a threat with set-pieces and play those long-sweeping passes, Milner is quite comfortable playing in his preferred defensive midfield role, sitting in front of the back four, tracking opponent’s runs and complementing Henderson’s role as a box-to-box midfielder.

He is also quite handy in attack, and amongst his 32 Premier League appearances (11 of which he started), Milner has scored five goals and produced seven assists, and played another 45 key passes.

Indeed, filling the void of Gerrard at the club will be hard. In saying that, Liverpool’s midfield looked in tatters last season, with little coherence and understanding shown between the players. No, Milner is not an upgrade on Gerrard, but he is the man that can clean Liverpool’s mess.