I said ‘you don’t win the Premier League with James Milners’ – 18 years later I hope he has forgiven me
GRAEME SOUNESS has revealed he apologised for saying ““you won’t win the league with James Milners” to the Liverpool star.
Milner, 37, is out of contract at Anfield this summer and is expected to agree a one-year deal to join former Reds team-mate Adam Lallana at Brighton.
The ex-England international played under Souness at Newcastle before moving on to Aston Villa and then five trophy-laden years at Manchester City.
He arrived on a free transfer at Liverpool in 2015 and has won the lot during his nine years on Merseyside.
After winning the Premier League twice at City, he helped the Reds end their 30-year title drought in 2021.
That was after playing a key role in their Champions League, Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup successes in 2019.
And he added to his trophy cabinet again last season as Jurgen Klopp’s side lifted both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
Liverpool legend Souness has now admitted that he hopes the veteran has “forgiven me” as he hailed his leadership qualities.
“I was discussing leadership with Simon Jordan,” he wrote in his Daily Mail column.
“James Milner was one of those I named as a leader I would want in my dressing room.
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“At Newcastle, I knew him as a young boy and he has matured into a professional you can bet is a ten out of ten around the dressing room.
“He was upset with me many years ago at Newcastle when I said that ‘you won’t win the league with James Milners’ and he took that as me saying he wasn’t good enough.
“I was trying to say that you needed men. He was only 19 at the time.
“I apologised to him for that and I hope he’s forgiven me.”
Souness added: “You can never have enough James Milners in the dressing room. He makes other players turn up.”