OPINION
Pushing out a respected, but past-his-best, veteran player is always a delicate procedure for football teams. However, in the case of midfielder James Milner, Liverpool may find themselves in an ideal situation.
That’s because the former 61-cap England international has seemingly already plotted the perfect exit strategy and a great way for him to leave the Reds on his own terms.
Football Insider reported on Saturday that the 33-year-old is willing to take a big pay cut to join his first club: his boyhood team, Leeds United. However, he wants to stay with the European champions for at least another year first.
The midfielder’s current contract is due to expire at the end of this season, but the club are said to be in negotiations for a new deal on a lower basic wage, and are confident that he will sign fresh terms soon.
If he does ink an extension through to the end of the 2020/21 season then that would be the perfect time for him to depart Anfield. He’d be 35 years of age at that point and, as long as Leeds were in the Premier League, everything would line up perfectly for his dream return to the Yorkshire outfit.
This would be the rare occasion where a player leaving his club is a respectful endeavour. Milner is still performing at a very high level, but year 35 would be the perfect time for him to depart the Reds.
When you examine the statistics, it’s clear that Milner hasn’t regressed much over the past four seasons. As per WhoScored.com, he’s actually the best in possession that he’s been over the past four years He’s recording the lowest number of unsuccessful touches and is being disposed fewer than at any point in recent years.
A relative lack of game time has seen his shots and key passes per game tally reduce this term, but there’s no indication that he is about to fall off a cliff heading towards 35-years-old.
With that said, the Yorkshireman appears to have stumbled across the ideal way for him to leave Jurgen Klopp’s side and tie his epic career in a nice, neat knot. Let’s do it.
