The Brighton man could have made the move to Elland Road – but this interest came far too late.
Brighton and Hove Albion’s James Milner has revealed that Leeds United had an interest in him this summer but that interest came too late, speaking candidly to The Times.
Milner was set to be a free agent after Liverpool chose to release him on the expiration of his contract at Anfield – but it was always likely that he was going to be snapped up by another club despite his age – with the 36-year-old representing some big clubs and doing extremely well in the process.
And he is playing for another very capable side, with Brighton on the rise.
They were in the Championship just over six years ago – but their excellent recruitment of players and managers has allowed them to transform themselves into a side that’s now competing in a European competition.
That’s a seriously impressive achievement and their rise is probably one of the reasons why Milner decided to relocate to the south coast.
And this is a move that is paying dividends for him so far, with the Seagulls currently sitting at the top of the Premier League table at the time of writing.
They have a great chance to maintain their status at the top of the division with a victory over West Ham United at the Amex Stadium this evening – and they will be firm favourites to win the three points following an emphatic away win at Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
The Whites endured a pretty slow start to the summer in terms of incomings and that was to be expected considering they were in the process of being taken over.
It has arguably cost them their status as one of the promotion favourites because they still need to do a lot of work in the transfer market and have endured a pretty poor start to the 2023/24 campaign.
However, the chance to return to Elland Road may have been tempting for Milner. But that interest came too late.
That’s according to the man himself, who told The Times: “Leeds were interested very late.
“When there were changes in the hierarchy there, when somebody left the club [Victor Orta and Andrea Radrizzani], it was all speed ahead, but before that there was no interest.
“By that point my mind was pretty much made up that Brighton was the right move for me.”
Should James Milner have made the move to Leeds United?
A move back to Elland Road sounds romantic but it remains to be seen whether the Whites will secure promotion back to the top flight anytime soon.
If they remain stuck in the Championship, the ex-Liverpool star should not return to West Yorkshire because he deserves to go out at the top level.
And his decision to go to Brighton earlier this summer is probably the right one – because they have been superb in recent times and are certainly a team on the rise under Roberto De Zerbi.
Managing to clinch a starting spot as well, that’s a real bonus but it doesn’t matter if he starts every week at his age.
As long as he continues to win a respectable amount of game time, he probably won’t regret not returning to Leeds.
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