This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Brendan Rodgers has reflected on bringing James Milner to Liverpool, and his revelation on European success will sting Manchester City fans.
What’s he’s said?
The Leicester boss, who brought Milner to Anfield from the Etihad back in 2015, has claimed he was able to convince the Englishman to join due to Liverpool’s European pedigree.
“At that time, we felt that we needed that experience to come in,” he said, via The Liverpool Echo. “It was a big decision for James.
“I remember travelling out one evening with Charlotte, my wife, and we were trying to coax him to come. So we went to his house and we sat down.
“Charlotte did the work on his wife, telling her what a great club Liverpool is and how it is an incredible place to come. And I went to work on James.
“It’s really, really interesting because he wanted to come to Liverpool. He had won the Premier League, he had won cups. His whole ambition was to win the Champions League and he felt that he would have a better opportunity to win it at Liverpool.”
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Ouch
Liverpool and Manchester City have inevitably become rivals over the past couple of seasons due to their dominance over the rest of the league, as well as the Reds’ Champions League triumph of course.
And this will certainly hurt the league champions, as it is no secret that the one empty space in their trophy cabinet is reserved for when they are finally crowned kings of Europe.
Rodgers’ comments may be even more of a punch in the gut for City fans when considering the state the Reds were in when Milner made the move.
In the midfielder’s first season on Merseyside, the now Foxes boss was sacked after a 1-1 draw with Everton, and despite Jurgen Klopp’s arrival, the side finished 8th, behind West Ham and Southampton.
No one could have predicted that Klopp would restore Liverpool to the top of the European pile, and so the fact that Milner still fancied his chances more at Anfield suggests the 33 year-old simply doesn’t see his former side conquering Europe, and up to this point he has been proven right. Ouch.