Milner 'Sticks It Up' Newcastle!

Last updated : 28 August 2008 By Footy Mad - Editor

We reported back in June that Liverpool had been on the phone asking about the availability of the talented winger ... and that the player had demanded the opportunity to talk to the Anfield club.

Newcastle snubbed out the interest by slapping a figure of £9m on Milner's head, and Rafa Benitez backed off.

But Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill, who was five minutes away from signing Milner back in 2006, only to have the deal pulled because Middlesbrough would not release Mark Viduka, has never given up the ghost.

And now Newcastle must address the situation, and it becomes embarrassing for Kevin Keegan, who gave a heart-felt assessment of his star winger after the Carling Cup tie against Coventry.

Keegan said his player had signed a three year contract and was "going nowhere".

But O'Neill was in the stands at Coventry and we couldn't help but feel Milner played out of his skin - more 'playing to the gallery' than for his Newcastle career.

It is a well known fact Liverpool are desperate for width in their ranks, as they try and rid themselves of that Premiership hoodoo.

Milner has Premiership experience and Benitez knows he would slot straight into his team, unlike the period it takes for a foreign player to settle in.

It looks like a Aston Villa/Liverpool head-to-head, but now the player has cemented his intent to get away from St James' Park, others could enter the race.