James Milner

Milner was born in Wortley, Leeds to Peter and Lesley Milner and attended Horsforth School.  He began his early football career at 10 years old when he joined the Leeds United Academy and he impressed them enough that they took him on as a trainee when he left school.

Milner debuted for Leeds United on 10 November 2002 when he came on as a last minute substitute in a game against West Ham United. At 16 years and 309 days old, that six minute appearance made him the second youngest person to ever play in the Premier League and on the 26th December 2002 he also broke another record by being the youngest player to ever score in the Premier League.  Everton’s James Vaughan has since claimed that title.

Milner spent a month on loan to Swindon Town where he gained status as a first team player and other clubs began to show interest in signing him.  In July 2004 he signed for Newcastle in a deal worth £3.6 million.

Milner continued to show flair and he started the 2005-2006 season with a goal in the Intertoto Cup, but he was chosen to go on loan to Aston Villa as part of their purchase deal for Solano and spent the remainder of the season at Villa Park.

Milner became a regular starter and helped Villa win 8-3 against Wycombe Wanderers in a League Cup game not long after starting.  Aston Villa were impressed enough with the midfielder’s form that they began talks with Newcastle in a bid to keep him in Birmingham.

However, Newcastle were keen to have him back, and Milner returned to his own club for the start of the 2006 season where he started every game.  Milner remained with Newcastle until the end of 2008 when, despite rumours he would be moving to Liverpool, he personally requested a return to Aston Villa.  He signed for them on 29 August 2008 in a £12 million deal.

On 19th May 2010, it was reported that Aston Villa had rejected an offer of £20 million for Milner from Manchester City. Martin O’Neill, who was Aston Villa’s manager at the time said that as Milner had expressed a desire to go to Manchester City he could be released, but only at Villa’s valuation. On 17th August 2010 it was reported that an agreement had been reached in a deal worth around £24 million, which included a player exchange for Stephen Ireland. Milner made his debut for Manchester City on 23rd August in a 3-0 win over Liverpool.

Milner’s International career began at youth level but he came on for his first England game with the senior team in 2009 for the final 23 minutes of a friendly against Holland.  His most recent match was against Egypt on 3 March 2010.