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Milner on a free in the summer

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He's quality. Anyone who wasn't convinced before saw that first hand, up close & personal, last season so should be convinced now.
 
I hope he's better than everyone else we sign because they played well against us
 
Oddly enough for a player of his ability he's never really seemed to have been given his head by the managers who bought him (or picked him for England), so if he came here and was made to feel a truly integral part of the team I'm sure we'd get the best out of him and he'd flourish.
 
----Coutinhio ----strurridge----Sterling--

--------------------Lallana---------------

Bench

Origi - 10 million
Milner -free
Lambert - 4 million
Borini - 11 million
Lazar - 20 million
Mario -16 million
Ibe - youth

I am not saying milner is not a good player, just similar to what we have already. If strurridge gets injured again we still won't have a top striker. If we do get another front man then one of those players in the team at the minute will be benched.

I appreciate they may not be the exact price we paid for them.
 
Obviously if we do not buy anyone else that could be our line up next season. I hope some of those players leave, no guarantees though. Like borini in the summer, he cost us big time. We will never see that kind of money again.
 
Something else in Milner's favour, he's won things. He's older.

With Stevie (&probably Johnson) gone, only really lucas remains as an older head in the dressing room & on the pitch.

We could do with another one.
 
Oliver Kay Chief Football Correspondent
Last updated at 12:01AM, January 8 2015

Liverpool have begun planning for life after Steven Gerrard’s departure by looking to exploit the growing uncertainty over James Milner’s future at Manchester City.


The Merseyside club are in pole position to sign Milner on a free transfer at the end of the season after the breakdown of his contract negotiations with City.

Milner has informed City team-mates that he believes there is little chance of him staying at the club beyond the expiry of his contract this summer after he was told last week that there will be no improvement on the offer he rejected last month.

Despite having been a more regular starter this season, Milner, who turned 29 this week, feels that his long-term prospects at City look less encouraging in the light of the club’s take-it-or-leave-it approach to negotiations.

The England midfielder has been eligible to sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club since January 1, amid reported enthusiasm from Inter Milan and Roma, and also attracted firm interest from Arsenal last summer, but the strongest bid is expected to come from Liverpool if no agreement has been reached with City by the end of the season.

Liverpool need to revamp their midfield in view of Gerrard’s looming departure to Los Angeles Galaxy, who confirmed yesterday that the former England captain will join them in July on an 18-month deal. “We were aggressive in our pursuit of Steven and look forward to his contributions on and off the field,” Chris Klein, the Galaxy president, said.

Liverpool have a longstanding interest in Milner, who has been discussed at length by their transfer committee, including Brendan Rodgers, and scouting department. Their hopes of signing him hinge on the stalemate in his negotiations with City, but, as the impasse has dragged on, the Merseyside club have made plans to offer Milner a long-term deal as part of a midfield overhaul.

Milner has started ten of City’s opening 20 Premier League matches this season, having started only 12 times last season, and his versatility is valued by Manuel Pellegrini, who has used him at centre forward in recent matches to ease an injury crisis. For City to lose him would represent another blow in their annual struggle to meet the Premier League’s and Uefa’s home-grown player quota.

Fabian Delph, another England midfielder who has been on Liverpool’s radar, is the subject of growing interest from Tottenham Hotspur. Like Milner, Delph is in the final months of his contract, in his case at Aston Villa, and has so far rejected offers to sign a new deal.
 
Not really a fan of his. Yeah people keep going on about the 20 mins against us, yeah but so what we make everyone look good. He's a workhorse who can play various positions, we have plenty of those already. He's not going to help us to advance to top 4. We're needing quality right now, not quantity. Then there's there matter of his wages.
 
I think he's one of those players who has been a victim of his own versatility. Play him mainly in one attacking position, show you have faith in him there and I think he'll look much more impressive.
 
If people really haven't watched enough of City to know how good this lad is - then that's not his, or our club's, fault !

Some superb performances for them this season and even when he's not at his best he's still good enough to get into our side.
 
I think you have to account for a few things here. Whether we sign him or not, is irrelevant to what else we're going for in the market - it doesn't make him our "top" signing, nor does it mean we won't buy in other areas of concern.

Secondly, we also have to account for the fact that players will go. It's not beyond the realms that any of the following could leave this Summer:

Mignolet
Toure
Johnson
Enrique
Allen
Lucas
Gerrard (confirmed)
Borini
Lambert
Balotelli

We need to again add to the squad, because inevitably players will go.
 
He's a good player, and he'd be decent for us. The problem is that he's not really what we need. He's another player that won't score enough goals for us. We need players that will score regularly, and I don't think Milner will.

If we get someone who does that, as well as Milner, then fine, but I wouldn't want him to be our only signing.
 
I said in the summer that he'd be a good fit for us but not worth spending a fortune on and not at the expense of someone like Can (if we see him as our future).

I suppose things are different now. Given that we've got a Gerrard sized hole in our midfield and not a lot of money to fill it, we could do a lot worse than to get Milner on a free.

My main worry is that we'd see him on the wing in place of a flair player... but then that is counteracted by the thought of never ever having to see Henderson on the RW again, which is a very comforting thought. Sign!
 
keniget said:
I said in the summer that he'd be a good fit for us but not worth spending a fortune on and not at the expense of someone like Can (if we see him as our future).

I suppose things are different now. Given that we've got a Gerrard sized hole in our midfield and not a lot of money to fill it, we could do a lot worse than to get Milner on a free.

My main worry is that we'd see him on the wing in place of a flair player... but then that is counteracted by the thought of never ever having to see Henderson on the RW again, which is a very comforting thought. Sign!
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I doubt Rodgers would play milner on the wing at the expense of a flair player, esp when you consider how many we have.

I see Henderson at rw more a very temporary attempt at a solution to specify issues than any real thought process from Rodgers.
 
FoxForceFive said:
I doubt Rodgers would play milner on the wing at the expense of a flair player, esp when you consider how many we have.

I see Henderson at rw more a very temporary attempt at a solution to specify issues than any real thought process from Rodgers.
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Yeah and one of the reasons Milner wants to leave is that he wants to play in the middle. So i can't see him coming to us to be put on the wing. Don't see the point in Milner at all when we have Can who should be going into the middle next season.
 
What if he is? Kolo's outperformed my expectations on the field, and off it he's the kind of experienced character we need, especially with Stevie going. Getting another player who can do similar things (and with a few years on Kolo - Milner's not even in his 30s yet) on a free? Yes please.
 
I always thought Milner was a steady, safe player but he's more than that. He's a lot better than I've ever given him credit for. Would definitely be interested in him.
I was at the game versus Man City and he was excellent in that 2nd half. He occupied clever positions and was a constant threat.
 
Judge Jules said:
What if he is? Kolo's outperformed my expectations on the field, and off it he's the kind of experienced character we need, especially with Stevie going. Getting another player who can do similar things (and with a few years on Kolo - Milner's not even in his 30s yet) on a free? Yes please.
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Hmm, perhaps you are right. He just turned 29 the 4th of January. Leaves a few questions in my book:

It would be fair to expect him in the XI almost every game? Would it be fair to say that he would expect to start. What would we pay; 85.000 a week? Who would we drop? Lucas? He sits deeper than Milner and it probably wouldnt work with Milner/Hendo? So that leaves Hendo's position. Would you prefer Milner there over Hendo considering that Hendo is the future Captain - regardless - I think that is unlikely that he will be dropped form CM. No way Coutinho, Lallana, Sterlings positions would be under threat.

Would you play him wide - where I find him less effective even if he is competent?

So with Milner expecting to start almost every game and on a fairly high wage, even if he is signed on a free, it might represent some complications? Maybe we would be better of finding someone who would accept the bench and mature from there while making 30.000 a month?

Really not sure but I think that getting Milner, without CL footy, would be complicated?
 
Wiberg said:
Hmm, perhaps you are right. He just turned 29 the 4th of January. Leaves a few questions in my book:

It would be fair to expect him in the XI almost every game? Would it be fair to say that he would expect to start. What would we pay; 85.000 a week? Who would we drop? Lucas? He sits deeper than Milner and it probably wouldnt work with Milner/Hendo? So that leaves Hendo's position. Would you prefer Milner there over Hendo considering that Hendo is the future Captain - regardless - I think that is unlikely that he will be dropped form CM. No way Coutinho, Lallana, Sterlings positions would be under threat.

Would you play him wide - where I find him less effective even if he is competent?

So with Milner expecting to start almost every game and on a fairly high wage, even if he is signed on a free, it might represent some complications? Maybe we would be better of finding someone who would accept the bench and mature from there while making 30.000 a month?

Really not sure but I think that getting Milner, without CL footy, would be complicated?
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30k a month, that would get us players that wouldn't even be good enough for most teams in the Championship!!
 
Wiberg said:
Hmm, perhaps you are right. He just turned 29 the 4th of January. Leaves a few questions in my book:

It would be fair to expect him in the XI almost every game? Would it be fair to say that he would expect to start. What would we pay; 85.000 a week? Who would we drop? Lucas? He sits deeper than Milner and it probably wouldnt work with Milner/Hendo? So that leaves Hendo's position. Would you prefer Milner there over Hendo considering that Hendo is the future Captain - regardless - I think that is unlikely that he will be dropped form CM. No way Coutinho, Lallana, Sterlings positions would be under threat.

Would you play him wide - where I find him less effective even if he is competent?

So with Milner expecting to start almost every game and on a fairly high wage, even if he is signed on a free, it might represent some complications? Maybe we would be better of finding someone who would accept the bench and mature from there while making 30.000 a month?

Really not sure but I think that getting Milner, without CL footy, would be complicated?
Click to expand...

Milner would be one of a number of options for any of the midfield and forward positions. Not many teams nowadays have a first XI that they pick for every game, and that's even less likely with us than it is with most teams because Rodgers' hard-pressing "perpetual motion" style makes such heavy demands on player fitness. Milner probably would expect to play in the majority of games, but I don't see that as a problem given (a) his quality, (b) his versatility, (c) our need for experience and (d) the number of games we'll have to play if we qualify for either of the European competitions.
 
Signing players whom 'accept the bench' is exactly not the type of players we should be signing.
 
Milner will be a very good asset in a highly creative team like Man City or last years Liverpool. A very intelligent player who complements and balances players like Silva, Aguero. Similar to how Kuyt is valuable for the Dutch. Given that nowadays we are struggling to create chances, I dont think he will do well here.
 
mark1975 said:
Hmmmm... one of the reasons he's moving is because he wants to play, so that's a bit of a daft point.
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That's what I was saying.
Wiberg suggested we should be signing players who accept the bench.
I think the opposite.
 
Leo said:
That's what I was saying.
Wiberg suggested we should be signing players who accept the bench.
I think the opposite.
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Ahhh.. ok! I think he's desperate to play, he plays more than a fair amount of football anyway for City, he'd be ideal for that bit of experience in the middle, particularly if we lose both Gerrard AND Lucas.
 
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