OPINION
With all the excitement over Liverpool’s surging Premier League title bid, it seems to have slipped most peeople’s mind that Reds midfielder James Milner is out of contract in the summer.
However, the Daily Mail included the veteran in their list of the top 10 Premier League free agents (to be) on Thursday, begging the question of why hasn’t Milner’s future been secured yet?
The 32-year-old is still, essentially, in the prime of his career and has been performing to a very high level this campaign. Indeed, his form at the start of this season was some of the finest of his career.
While he’s cooled down a bit since then, he remains the ultimate professional who never produces a performance worse than about 7/10. He’s a manager’s dream, so why hasn’t Jurgen Klopp handed him an extension yet?
The German does, of course, have plenty of options in central midfield, but Milner’s versatility and leadership make him someone worth keeping regardless of whether he’d be starting week in week out.
He, along with captain Jordan Henderson and defender Virgil van Dijk, is the undisputed leader of this team and it would be madness to lose him at the end of the season.
It’s a particularly dangerous time for the Reds to be leaving Milner’s future open-ended, too. Milner’s hometown club Leeds United are making a massive push for promotion this campaign, and if they return to the top flight it would be hard for the midfielder to resist rejoining them.
There is no one in this Liverpool squad who can do such a good job in so many different positions like Milner. He has shown an ability to thrive as a left back, right back, winger and central midfielder – heck, he’d probably put a decent shift in between the sticks.
It’s likely that Klopp’s team will be competing on multiple fronts for the next few years at least, meaning that players like Milner will continue to be invaluable over the next couple of seasons.
With all that said it’s imperative that Klopp pulls his finger out and nails down Milner’s future on Merseyside before it’s too late.
