Brighton’s James Milner is undecided over whether he will play on beyond the end of the current season but is remaining “open” to extending his deal for a further year.
Milner, 40, broke the league record for the most appearances last weekend. He started for Brighton at Brentford, in what was his 654th top flight appearance, surpassing the previous record set by Gareth Barry.
Having made his debut back in Nov. 2002, Milner’s 24-year professional career has seen him play in the top flight for Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton.
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler said in January he was hopeful Milner would agree to stay for a further season, but with his contract up in the summer, Milner is still weighing up his next move.
“I think things change very quickly in football, and I think when you get to my age things change very quickly as well,” he said.
“When I look at where I was last year — not being able to lift my foot for six months — to where I am this year, and even where I was maybe six weeks ago where I wasn’t playing too many minutes and things weren’t going too well, you’re frustrated.
But then I’ve played more minutes the last two games and when you’re part of a win, it’s easier to turn around and say, ‘Yes, I’d love to do another year.’
“I’m pretty open at this moment in time. Whether I will or whether I won’t [continue playing], I’m not sure. The club — we haven’t had any conversations, so obviously the club have to be interested as well.
“I said earlier in the season, let’s get to February and see where we’re at, and I know we’re there now, so we’ll see what happens. At this moment in time, I’m just doing my work every day, and things can change quickly. At this moment in time, I’m very open to it, and hopefully the last few games have proved that I can still contribute on the field.”
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Milner said he does not “fear” retirement whenever that comes.
“I think it’s a tough question to know when’s the right time, because I feel like I can still do it now, but do you go to the point where you can’t? Is that too long? I finished the game at the weekend and some of the boys went ‘you can’t retire Milly this year, you’ve got to go again next year’. So I think that’s always a tough decision to get the right time.
“I feel like the coaching side I’ve been exposed to, in terms of a bit last year here and the badges I’ve done, interest me at times. But Jurgen [Klopp] always said, whenever you finish, you need to have a rest and a break straight away and I think that’s pretty appealing at this moment in time.”
Whenever Milner does retire, he would consider a move into management, though the cut-throat nature of the job is giving him pause for thought.
“Sometimes it appeals to me, for sure,” he says. “And then other times, you see managers getting a new contract and getting sacked in two months and I just don’t think people get the time they deserve now.
“Sometimes I think, yeah, it’d be great and I’d love to put my stamp on a team and I think I could do this and that. But it’s such a hard gig isn’t it? I mean, it’s so hard. Even the amount of press you’ve got to do so it is a difficult job and it’s one the competitive guy in you, thinks yeah I wouldn’t mind giving that a go and taking on.
“I feel like I’ve got a fantastic knowledge of people I’ve worked under from back to Terry Venables and Sir Bobby Robson, and then you go through to the current manager now. I’ve got a great array of different managers from different countries and different personalities to lean back on, so in one way I think it’d be a big shame to lose all that knowledge and experience I’ve built up to not be able to use that.
“I’m pretty open and seeing, I’ve always said I’m just concentrating on what I’m doing. I know the end’s getting closer, I do appreciate that, but I stay in the present and try and focus on what I can contribute to the team as a player.”
