Stuart Pearce names James Milner as ‘the best player the Premier League has ever seen'

Former Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce thinks James Miner is the best player the Premier League has ever seen.

Milner made his Premier League debut as a fresh-faced teenager back in November 2002 when he came on for Leeds United.

Fast forward 21 years, Milner has gone on to play for the likes of Aston Villa, City and Liverpool in what has been an incredible career.

Now at the age of 37, Milner is set to leave Liverpool at the end of the 22/23 season, with reports that he will move to Brighton and continue his Premier League career.

Pearce, who coached Milner when he was manager of England’s U21 team has heaped praise on the midfielder.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Pearce said: “I said a few years ago, pound for pound, and people will say I’m crazy but pound for pound what you get, he is the best player in the Premier League there’s ever been, and I stick by that.

“For what you get, for what he gives you around the training camp, the games he plays, everything that he stands for. All of those things, you put it into a computer his name will come out as one of the top ones.”

Pearce added: “Not the best as in ability-wise, I’m talking about everything that a modern-day player should be. For professionalism and how he conducts himself.

“I’ve never seen a bad word in the news about James Milner. He is the record caps holder for England U21, he’s an England international.”

Pearce then admitted he didn’t think Milner would get into the England senior team.

He said: “I didn’t think he would get an England senior cap when I had him with the U21s, I thought he was a good player but I wasn’t sure.

“He went on to get I think 47 senior caps, he’s won the league with Liverpool and Manchester City, he’s just an incredible individual.”

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp also spoke positively about Milner.

He said: “He knows how highly I value him. He's an incredible part of this team and I would have loved to have work together with him even longer.

“What exactly the outcome will be of his decision, I think Milly will say that at one point. I'm not sure if it happened already or not, I'm not really aware of that.

“Nothing else to say from me but nothing will change. I've said it a couple of times, what happened over the past seven and a half years, all the positive things, none of it would happen without James Milner.”