Dutchman Ryan Babel has celebrated Liverpool midfielder James Milner after the retired England international signed a new one-year deal at the Merseyside club. Ryan Babel and other former Liverpool players such as Sami Hyypia replied the post made by the official Liverpool Instagram account on the new contract for Milner with their respective congratulatory messages.
The new contract for Milner was announced by Liverpool earlier this week. The 36-year-old Englishman would have been a free agent at the end of this month if his Liverpool contract was not extended. Liverpool manager JurgenKlopp was keen for Milner to extend his stay at the club. Milner is the vice-captain at Liverpòol, while compatriot Jordan Henderson is the club captain.
Despite his age, Milner has shown himself to be one of the fittest players in the Liverpool squad. The just concluded season was the seventh season for Milner at Liverpool and he made 39 appearances for the club in all competitions to take his overall tally to 289 appearances. He needs at least eleven appearances in the new season to get to the 300-mark for the Reds in terms of the number of games played for the Merseyside club. During his time at Liverpool, Milner has won all the major trophies possible from the Champions League to the Premier League title to the FA Cup to the League Cup. Also, he has won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup with Liverpool.
On the new Liverpool deal signed by Milner, Galatasaray forward Ryan Babel said it’s amazing when quality is judged over age and that the new one-year contract extension given to the midfielder is well deserved.
With the new deal, Milner has the chance to surpass Chelsea legend Frank Lampard on the list of all-time Premier League appearance makers. Lampard has played 21 more Premier League games than Milner. The retired Chelsea midfielder is third on the list after Gareth Barry and Ryan Giggs.