‘Closest’: Joleon Lescott says Liverpool midfielder is the only player who can break PL record

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Speaking to SportBible, Joleon Lescott has been speaking about Gareth Barry’s all-time Premier League appearance record and James Milner.

It’s once again time to elect new players into the Premier League Hall of Fame, and while some superstars such as Sergio Aguero, Robin van Persie and Didier Drogba have been nominated, Lescott would like to see Barry inducted due to the number of games he’s played.

Barry has played more Premier League matches than anyone else, and Lescott believes that his record may be unbreakable.

However, Lescott added that there is one player who could get close to Barry’s record – James Milner.

What’s been said?

Lescott spoke about Barry and Milner.

“I always say Gareth Barry should be in there. He’s played the most games – more than anyone else – Shearer is in there because he scored the most goals.

“He didn’t just make appearances by the way. I think he’s played 600 and something games and 94 per cent of them were starts. He deserves recognition for that because I don’t think that gets beaten either.

“I think James Milner would arguably be the closest but to play what it equates to – 17 seasons – consecutive seasons without missing a game – is a remarkable achievement.”

Fitting

If Barry’s record is ever to be beaten, it would be fitting if James Milner was the man to do it.

Barry and Milner were great friends on the pitch, and their careers were always linked, from Aston Villa to Manchester City to England.

Barry would probably be more than happy to see Milner break his record, and to be honest, after the career he’s had and how dedicated he is to his craft, Milner probably deserves it.

Unfortunately for the Liverpool man, he’s still some way short, sitting 69 appearances behind Barry’s record, and with Milner’s role at Liverpool ever-reducing, he may need three seasons to rack up that many games, and at the age of 36, time isn’t on his side.