.png)
Nike created a custom pair of boots for James Milner's 600th Premier League appearance but the 36-year-old did not even wear them.
Milner made his debut all the way back in 2002 for boyhood club Leeds United at the age of 16 years and 309 days against West Ham United.
20 years and after spells with Newcastle, Aston Villa and Manchester City, he's still going strong with Liverpool.
Milner reached the historic milestone, becoming the fourth player to do so, in Liverpool's 3-1 win over Southampton at Anfield on Saturday.
Advert
He replaced Harvey Elliott in the 68th minute and wore the captain's armband. However, he was not sporting the special pair of boots Nike designed for him.
Milner is a Nike athlete and the American sportswear giants designed a bespoke pair of Phantom GT2 Elite boots that commemorated his career.
It included an England flag to mark his 61 caps for England as well as the colours of all the clubs he has represented.
It has Milner's name and the date of which he burst onto the scene. In the actual insole, which has a St George's flag, are all of the major trophies Milner has won.
The detail and effort is quite phenomenal but Milner didn't quite fancy wearing them on the day of the occasion.
He is quite the no-nonsense professional and so instead wore his usual cleats.
Nike have presented Milner with boots in the past to celebrate his success and he's always been grateful so you'd have to assume he's got them in pride of place at home along with his medals and mementos.
Speaking on making his 600th Premier League appearance, Milner told the official Liverpool website: “It’s a long time, you need a lot of luck, I’ve been very fortunate to play with a lot of very good players and managed to learn off those and the managers. It’s great to be still playing and hopefully contributing as much as I can at a club like Liverpool.
“[Gareth Barry’s record of 653] is a long way off. You know me, game by game and I just want to keep working and contributing as much as I can to this football club.”
Topics: Nike, James Milner
Josh Lawless