James Milner has signed a one-year deal with Brighton after leaving Liverpool at the end of his contract, bringing to an end an eight-year stay at Anfield. The 61-cap England international won the Premier League with the Reds and two more during his time at Manchester City. He is only behind Gareth Barry (652) and Ryan Giggs (632) on the list of Premier League appearances, having made 619 across his spells with Liverpool, City, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Leeds. Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi said of the new signing: ‘I’m very glad to welcome James to Brighton. He’s an excellent addition for us and I’m sure he will help to bring us to an even higher level.’ Adam Lallana, who played with the veteran at Liverpool, added: ‘I look at our dressing room now and characters are building everywhere. James has been in the Premier League for a long time, he defines the word professionalism and if we can use the strengths of players like him and others of that ilk and help the group overall it’s only going to help. And he’s older than me so he can have the headlines about being the oldest player in the group! I think it has gone under the radar how many senior players we’ve got. [Lewis] Dunk, [Pascal] Gross, [Danny] Welbeck, [Jason] Steele are all in their thirties and it helps the dressing room. We help provide the environment for the hidden gems to express themselves, that’s the model and James will help us with that.
Adam Lallana also commented on the importance of having experienced players in the team: ‘If you’ve got a team with 8-9 good senior lads like we have that’s pivotal to success. I look at the Southampton team when they won back to back promotions and to the Liverpool team I played in, there was always a core of leaders.’ Joao Pedro and Alexis Mac Allister have also joined Brighton this summer, with Pedro agreeing a £30m move in May and Mac Allister joining from Liverpool for £35m. For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.