James Milner’s future at Liverpool is up in the air following his recent comments, whilst Tottenham Hotspur’s Danny Rose could potentially head for the North London exit door this summer.
TalkSport pundit Clinton Morrison has claimed that Liverpool and Tottenham’s hierarchies don’t want to offer James Milner and Danny Rose new contracts because of their age.
Milner recently admitted that his future at Liverpool is in doubt as he awaits contract talks with the club [Guardian], whilst Tottenham’s Danny Rose was not part of their pre-season tour of Asia as he tries to resolve his future.
In recent years gone by, both Milner, 33, and his former England teammate, Rose, 29, have been key figures for their respective clubs.
But speaking to Jim White on TalkSport (22/07/2019 at 10:40 am), Morrison shared his thoughts on Milner seemingly not being offered a new deal as he also touched upon Roses’s current situation.
“I don’t agree with that,” Morrison told TalkSport. “If you are a certain age and you are still delivering on a regular basis then you’re entitled to earn that contract.
“I can get that when you are 33, 34, they want to start handing out year contracts. I get that. But he’s only turned 33. Then how many games did Milner play last season? Was he fit and available to play those games? Is he one of the fittest still at Liverpool? I can guarantee that in all the testing Milner will win everything.
“I bet if you speak to Klopp, he will say ‘get the deal done as soon as possible’. But the hierarchy, they are always worrying. The same is happening now with Danny Rose at 29. The hierarchy are saying that they don’t want to give him a new contract because of his age. It’s strange to me because I would have had seven or eight Milner’s in my team.”
It is unfair to say that Rose is seemingly going to leave Spurs because of his age, it is more a case of allowing him to part ways with the club if the right offer was put on the table.
The same cannot be said of Milner, though. He is at an age where those in the boardroom start to fret and think about looking towards the future.
For most players that would be understandable, but for a player like Milner, who is one of the most finely tuned athletes in England’s top-flight, there should be an exception for him.
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