James Milner has revealed how he playfully warned a Liverpool team-mate ahead of his first training session with the club. The former vice-captain of the Reds joined Anfield on a free transfer in the summer of 2015, following the end of his contract with Man City.
During his eight-year stint at Liverpool, he clinched every major honour, made 332 appearances, and contributed 26 goals and 45 assists, before moving to Brighton and Hove Albion on a Bosman transfer in the summer of 2023.
The 39-year-old has spent most of the current season sidelined due to injury, and has been absent for all five matches against his old club since joining the Seagulls.
However, when he signed for Liverpool back in 2015 at the age of 29, he had already faced the Reds 24 times – with only five victories – prior to his move to Anfield. It was one of these encounters that led to Milner playfully targeting one of his new colleagues after joining the club.
While playing for Newcastle United, the midfielder broke his foot following a tackle from Lucas Leiva and was forced to leave the pitch just before half-time as Liverpool secured a 3-0 victory in March 2008.
He disclosed that he made sure to remind Lucas of the incident after his move to Anfield seven years later, humorously cautioning him to ‘expect one’ back in training.
“I broke my foot when I was at Newcastle,” he shared with Pro: Direct Soccer, reflecting on past injuries. “Lucas Leiva, I went to clear a ball and he came in with his studs and I broke my foot.”
He added a lighter note about joining forces with Lucas later, saying, “He was a teammate a few years later so the first day I met him, I obviously reminded him of that one and told him to expect one in training!”.
Nevertheless, Milner recounted that playing through broken ribs during his stint at Man City was by far his most excruciating injury – even mentioning how Kolo Toure, who would become a future team-mate at Liverpool, inadvertently exacerbated the injury during practice, ultimately sending the midfielder crashing ‘through a fence’.
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“I broke two ribs when I was at City,” he disclosed. “I carried on playing with them for about three months it lasted. Injections every game, that was probably the most painful thing I’ve had.
“The lads knew it in training. I didn’t get injections for training so it was a bit of agony. And then Kolo Toure got excited one day and put me through a fence with my ribs so that that was a good day!
“And in the same game I had five stitches in my head and somebody crashed my car into a bollard. So that was if things happen in threes, that was one of those days! So that was sore, that’s probably the most painful!”
