With James Milner extending his stick with Liverpool till past his thirty seventh birthday, he’s set to play within the Premier League previous his 20-year anniversary.
It has been a outstanding profession for Milner, and it’s removed from over but.
The veteran midfielder has simply signed a brand new one-year contract with Liverpool, committing to his eighth season at Anfield which is, by far and away, the longest he has spent at any membership in his senior profession.
That senior profession started on November 10, 2002, when Milner was a 16-year-old at Leeds, earlier than establishing himself as a first-choice starter within the following marketing campaign of 2003/04.
Becoming a member of him within the Leeds squad that season was Jermaine Pennant, who is simply three years older than Milner however performed his final Premier League recreation as a 30-year-old in 2014.
“After I see him play now, it’s just like how he was then,” Pennant, who spent three years with Liverpool within the late 2000s, tells This Is Anfield.
“He was by no means technically wonderful, however he was a workhorse, he labored laborious. He was good on the ball.
“He wouldn’t be like a Luis Diaz, he wouldn’t take you off your seat. However he was simply an all-round good participant, and he simply stayed on that degree throughout his profession
“Clearly being 17, 18 he was lots faster, nimble, sharp, eye for purpose.
“So I used to be pondering yeah he’s going to be a terrific participant, participant.
“I didn’t assume for one minute he would final this lengthy, however clearly James by no means, ever drank, doesn’t drink, so you possibly can see why!”
As Pennant attests, one of many key elements behind Milner’s longevity is his superhuman dedication off the pitch, with the Yorkshireman famously teetotal all through his profession.
At 36, that is in all probability extra extensively accepted than again in his teenage years, with Pennant recalling how he and his Leeds team-mates would attempt to tempt Milner into becoming a member of them on nights out.
“I can keep in mind when he was at Leeds, we used to have a Christmas night time out with the staff,” he recalled.
“Milly would come typically with us when he received a bit older, and I used to ask him: ‘Right here Milly, style this’.
“He would say ‘na, I don’t drink’. ‘You’ll like this one, it’s vodka and lemonade, simply have a little bit of this one’. ‘Na, na, na’.
“He was simply adamant whereas we have been all getting blind drunk!”
That’s the distinction between a participant of Milner’s ilk – and there are more and more few – and a gifted participant whose top-flight profession would have petered out a lot sooner.
The rewards are an eighth season at Liverpool, and a significant position for among the best golf equipment in world soccer.
