Liverpool confirmed their first major signing of the summer on Wednesday as the arrival of England midfielder James Milner on a free transfer was officially announced.
The 29-year-old will join the Reds when his City contract expires at the end of the month.
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Milner will become the highest paid player at Anfield, taking a weekly wage of £160,000.
The only question left to answer, is what squad number will he receive?
Milner wore seven during his five seasons with City, but he was Aston Villa’s number eight before that.
Both seven and eight are currently available at Liverpool.
Seven has been free since Luis Suarez left for Barcelona last summer, while the imminent departure of legendary club captain Steven Gerrard will make eight up for grabs for the first time since 2004.
Gerrard’s eight jersey will take some filling, but Milner is the perfect man to take up the mantle.
Milner is unlikely to emulate Gerrard’s brilliance, but will certainly not let Liverpool down either.
The eight would be in safe hands with the Yorkshireman. He is not going to flop.
Milner rarely has bad games. His ratings almost never deviate from the 6/10 – 9/10 range.
Liverpool could sign another midfielder this summer and give him the eight shirt, but that would be a huge risk.
Milner will cope with the pressure and get on with his job in a steady, marginally above-par way.
Giving Gerrard’s shirt to anyone else would threaten to destroy them, should they fail to hit the ground running.
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Liverpool’s other available numbers include five and 11.
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