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…
James Milner to Leeds United is one of those transfers in football.
It’s been rumoured for a long time, but nobody knows if it will ever actually happen.
It’s the Elland Road equivalent of a ‘will they, won’t they’ relationship in a cheesy sitcom, but the midfielder’s book reveals that he may not want to return to his boyhood team.
What’s been said then?
Milner is asked in his book if he would like to finish his career at his former club.
“I get asked this all the time,” he said. “Any time I bump into a Leeds fan – or even my mates back home – it’s always, ‘When are you coming back? When are you coming home?’” Milner wrote (Via LeedsLive).
“It’s a really hard question to answer because it’s all totally hypothetical. There has never been a decision for me to make.”
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He went on to say that he’d have a lot to consider if the opportunity to go back to Elland Road ever arose.
“To go back and play for my hometown club again would be amazing in so many different ways.
“But at the same time, they say ‘Never go back,’ don’t they? What happens if you go back and it isn’t the fairy-tale finish? Would it be the right thing for me? Would it be the right thing for them?
“There would be so many things to weigh up – not just for myself or my family, but for Leeds.
“If I was being released by another club, would they want me? It would be pointless for them and for me if I wasn’t needed at the time and it was just some kind of nostalgia trip.”
Why being the away goalkeeper at Leeds is the toughest job in football in the video below…
Seems tentative
The veteran midfielder certainly seems tentative about the possibility of moving back to his former side.
He’d certainly be open to a move, but the stars would have to align perfectly for it to happen.
Milner last turned out for the west Yorkshire outfit all the way back in 2004, appearing 30 times throughout the 2003/04 campaign. During his time there, he netted five times as he first burst onto the scene.
Now a Champions League winner, his career has been a complete success but a return to Leeds might not be a distinct possibility.
Above all else, Milner appears as though he wants to be certain that he’d be an asset to the team, not only for his own career but so that he can aid the Yorkshire side on their way to success.
Whether or not Milner ever lines up for the Whites again remains to be seen, but he doesn’t seem to be as keen on a move as many would have hoped.
