Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has told the club’s official website that he thinks James Milner has been ‘massively important’ of late.
The Reds travel to take on Leeds United on Monday night, and will be looking to bounce back having been knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid in midweek.
The trip will be particularly emotional for Milner, who was born in Leeds and started his career with his hometown club.
Fans may not be allowed inside Elland Road, which won’t quite make his return the same, but this will still be a big night for Milner.
The 35-year-old has only started 10 Premier League games this season, but Klopp has now hailed the veteran’s influence.
Klopp feels Milner is ‘very, very important’ and has not only played well on the pitch, but has also been a key character in the squad.
“Massively important, very, very important,” said Milner. “He played very good and I think we won the games because he was on the pitch, not despite – I’m very sure about that. But I don’t know how often I said it and I can say it a lot more times: Millie is incredibly important for this group, incredibly important.”
“As a person, as a character but as a player as well. Not only in the dressing room, but as well in the dressing room. I think Millie was always around, playing or coming on or whatever when he was fit. There were some really little issues but enough of an issue to rule him out in the last month, but now he’s completely fit. Hopefully it stays like this and that makes him then an important player on and off the pitch. It’s good and I’m really happy to have him,” he added.
Liverpool soon face a decision on Milner. His contract expires in 2022, and they will have to figure out whether to keep him until then, or even beyond then.
Leeds may even fancy bringing Milner back to Elland Road, but at 35 he may be running out of time to make an emotional return to his hometown club.
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