Despite winning the Premier League with Manchester City this season, James Milner has this weekend revealed a desire to leave the Etihad this summer. The Sunday People claim that he will tell his manager Manuel Pellegrini after the World Cup that he wishes to be transfer listed to "seek a new challenge" (football to reality translation - he wants to start every week). Milner started just 17 times in the league this season, making a further 14 appearances from the bench. Crucially, the deciding final two games saw him play just 14 minutes on the final day against West Ham and be substituted on the hour mark against Aston Villa the midweek before. The Sunday newspapers claim the likes of Arsenal, Spurs, Everton and Newcastle would be interested in his signature. His high wages, said to be £90,000 a week, would be a huge problem for Newcastle as he likely earns far more than any of our players but there's no denying that his English grit, his tenacity and tireless running (this before you factor in his skill and high assist/goal rate and his 467 games experience) would be a major addition to our current side. Perhaps if Pellegrini was of the opinion he was going to use Milner even less next season he might consider a loan option which seemed to suit all parties when Gareth Barry played for Everton last season. Though if the top six want him, particularly Champions League clubs, it seems unlikely he would see a move back to Newcastle as his best option. Now 28-years-old, Milner really grew in stature during his time at Newcastle, developing from a Premier League potential as a teenager in 2004 to a real midfield sensation in four years (though it could be argued the biggest improvement really came during his 2005-2006 loan spell at Aston Villa after an inconsistent first season at St. James' - coming back a much better player than when he first had him). After performing as our best player in the 2007-2008 campaign, creating and scoring so many sensational goals and putting in 200% effort for every second he played, Milner was sold to much derision from the fans early into the following campaign. After becoming fed up with the shenanigans at Newcastle, Milner handed in a transfer request and his quick £12 million sale to Aston Villa ultimately led to the departure of Kevin Keegan who saw Milner as one of his key players and the re-investing of the cash by Dennis Wise and the board on Xisco and Gonzalez looked like three steps backward, and Keegan knew it. After excelling with two seasons at Villa and becoming an England regular there, Milner moved to oil-rich Manchester City, almost doubling his transfer value at £20 million and winning the FA Cup, Carling Cup and the Premier League twice in the past three seasons, not to mention featuring in the Champions League regularly. Despite being such a good player for us, Milner's reception on his returns back to the North East have never been fully supportive, likely due to the fact that he forced through an exit by transfer listing himself. Though I would suspect if an unlikely deal was ever to happen, for a lad who always wore his heart on his sleeve and would treat every game like a cup final, he would be welcomed back with open arms.
Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.
