James Milner is said to have agreed to a one-year contract extension with Liverpool, extending his stay at Anfield to eight years by the end of 2023.
Milner will reach two decades of Premier League football if he stays at the Merseyside club until the end of 2022-2023, having made his Premier League debut for Leeds at the age of 16 and 309 days.
According to The Athletic, the former England international has taken a significant pay cut and turned down offers from other Premier League clubs, as well as a potentially lucrative move to the MLS.
It is thought that the agreement was finalized within the last 48 hours, and an official statement is expected to be made in the next week.
However, Milner is said to have taken a significant pay cut to stay at Anfield, and the deals he is said to have rejected offered the player two years rather than the one he has signed for at Liverpool.
Milner has already played in England’s top flight for 19 years and seven months, having made his debut for Leeds against future club Newcastle in 2002.
Although the midfielder’s contract was set to expire in June, Jurgen Klopp is said to have assured him that he will be crucial to the Reds’ continued success.
Milner is also no bench warmer for the Champions League finalists, having played in more than half of Liverpool’s 63 games last season, appearing 39 times.
The former Leeds, Newcastle, Aston Villa, and Manchester City midfielder has already made 588 league appearances, placing him fourth all-time.
He has developed a reputation as a utility player in recent years, which belies both his commitment to his team and his all-around football knowledge, having covered for Trent Alexander-Arnold in the middle of the park and at right-back at times.
Milner also received an MBE from the Queen as part of the Queen’s birthday honors tradition, joining Gareth Bale.
The 36-year-old has won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, UEFA Supercup, and FIFA Club World Cup with Liverpool.
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