James Milner says player who left Liverpool this summer was ‘unbelievable’

James Milner says player who left Liverpool this summer was ‘unbelievable’

James Milner has lauded former Liverpool teammate Roberto Firmino and suggested that many never realised just how incredible the forward was.

Milner was speaking on the Premier League’s YouTube channel and had been asked to name the player he has played the most games with during his career.

Roberto Firmino was the answer. The Brazilian had an unbelievable time at Anfield, scoring 111 goals and contributing 79 assists in 362 games in all competitions for the Reds.

Photo by Andrea Staccioli/Insidefoto/LightRocket via Getty Images
The 32-year-old won virtually everything while part of Jurgen Klopp’s side, including the Premier League and the Champions League. And he more than played his part in one of the greatest forward lines the Premier League has ever seen, alongside Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.

James Milner lauds Roberto Firmino
James Milner correctly guessed that Firmino was the teammate he had played the most games with during his career to date. And he went on to explain how Firmino probably does not get the full credit he deserves for how good he was.

Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images
“Yeah Bobby was incredible. As a guy, super chilled, super nice. Just nodded, smiled. I think that was him understanding my accent some of the time. But he never questioned it if he didn’t understand. But great guy to have around the place,” he told the Premier League’s YouTube channel.

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“As a player with the ball, receiving it in tight spaces, unbelievable touch in tight areas. He scored big goals. Without the ball, incredible as well. Used to win the ball back for us so many times. Would start the press, work so hard. He’s one of those players I think that unless you watched him every week or played with him, I don’t think you realise how good he is. He’s incredible.”

Liverpool have done well to rebuild attack
It appeared to be the right time this summer for Liverpool and Firmino to go their separate ways. He had started to move closer to the periphery of the squad with Klopp putting together a new forward line.

Of course, Salah is still there and is still making a devastating impact in the Premier League. But he has now been joined by the likes of Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota.

Firmino meanwhile, became one of the Liverpool players to swap Merseyside for Saudi Arabia in the summer. He marked his Saudi Pro League debut for Al Ahli by scoring a hat-trick. He has actually not scored for the side since then.

Liverpool appear to have done a very good job of moving on from the famous forward line. They have not gone out to sign replacements. Instead, they have brought in players who bring different qualities to the table.

Judging by Milner’s comments, attempting to replace Firmino would have been nearly impossible anyway.

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Arrest warrant issued for former Chelsea and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge by US court
Marcus Chan

Published 15:18, 12 October 2023 BST
| Last updated 15:39, 12 October 2023 BST

An arrest warrant has reportedly been issued for former Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge.

According to the Daily Mail, the arrest warrant was issued after Sturridge failed to appear in a court in Los Angeles.

The former Chelsea man reportedly failed to appear in court over money he allegedly owes to a man who says he found his dog.

Back in July 2019, Sturridge publicly offered a reward for anyone who can safely return his pet Pomeranian after he said it was stolen from his house. You can watch the footage below.

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Sturridge said: “We will pay anything for the dog. Whoever brings my dog back, 20 grand, 30 grand, whatever.

“Whoever knows who broke into my crib, I’ll pay you anything. I’m dead serious. I’ll pay whatever – it doesn’t matter the cost.”

American rapper Foster Washington, who goes by the name Killa Fame claimed to be the one to have found Sturridge’s dog and revealed he did not receive the promised payment.

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In December 2021, Sturridge took to Twitter and said: “Just to let you know the truth at Christmas. I met a young boy who found my dog and paid him a reward, which he was delighted with, as was I to get my dog back because he was stolen.

“Other people are trying to benefit for their own personal gain. Thank you to the young boy once again. I’m very grateful Lucci is back with our family.”

Image Credit: Getty
Sturridge was ordered by a court in LA to pay Washington $30,000 following a default judgment as the former striker did not respond to the complaint made by the American.

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Speaking to Mail Sport, Washington said: “or me, it’s a point of principle. He promised me the money. It’s a substantial amount of money that could change my family’s life.

“He thinks he is above the law. He thinks because he’s rich he doesn’t have to respond to what’s going on. That’s why I had to have the judge issue a warrant so he has to pay the money.”

SPORTbible has contacted Daniel Sturridge’s representatives for comment.

SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We’ve launched a dedicated news channel to send you the latest news, features and plenty more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here for ‘SPORTbible News’ to appear in the ‘Updates’ tab on your WhatsApp.

Featured Image Credit: Getty/Instagram

Topics: Daniel Sturridge, Football
Marcus Chan
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‘Genuinely’: Gary Lineker says attacker Liverpool sold in 2015 is just as good as Sadio Mane

Charles Jones
Thu 12 October 2023 9:45, UK
Liverpool have had some amazing attacking players over the years.

The likes of Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane are all fondly remembered at Anfield and get a lot of praise for their ability among the Liverpool fanbase.

However, there’s another attacker from that era who has to also be considered a Premier League great – Raheem Sterling.

The winger, of course, spent the first portion of his career at Liverpool, and while he isn’t necessarily a fan favourite on Merseyside these days, he has to be considered one of the better players to play at Anfield over the past 10 years or so.

Speaking on the BBC Match of the Day Top 10 Podcast, Gary Lineker has even gone as far as to say that Sterling is as good as Sadio Mane was for Liverpool, claiming that there was not much between the pair.

Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
Sterling as good as Mane
Lineker had a discussion about the two attackers alongside Micah Richards.

“Ok, so to ask you this. Who is better, Mane or Sterling? See, a lot of people would go with Mane straight away, but Sterling has been doing it for a long time in the Premier League,” Richards said.

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“I wouldn’t have that much between them. I genuinely wouldn’t. There’s not much between them, that’s difficult isn’t it,” Lineker said.

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This is a really tough debate.

Liverpool fans would probably pick Mane due to the way Sterling left the club in 2015, but, at the same time, Sterling has been so consistent over the years since leaving Anfield.

At Manchester City, the winger was good for 20 goals a season every season, and while you could say the same about Mane, their statistics were comparable.

For us, Mane is just that bit better because of what he brought to the Liverpool team, but in another world, that famous front three would be Sterling-Firmino-Salah rather than Mane-Firmino-Salah.

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Liverpool: £68m down the drain, “awful” dud rinsed the Reds more than Thiago
BY
ROSIE TUDBALL
PUBLISHED 3 HOURS AGO
Liverpool have had some questionable names and figures on their payroll, with one player not living up to the millions he accumulated at the club…

Liverpool are heading back in the right direction after slipping out of the top four last season, with a lot of Jurgen Klopp’s side’s progression attributed to their successful summer of transfers.

It was a tedious transfer window for the Reds, as they completed the majority of their deals done early in welcoming Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister at the start of the business period.

While the Reds had a quiet period in the market while other club’s seemed busy, Klopp recruited well in adding the two midfielders to the fold, with both already repaying their fees with a strong start to life at Anfield.

Business hasn’t always been so sharp in the red corner of Merseyside, as highlighted by one of the deals sanctioned to welcome a certain player back in 2017, who called time on his Liverpool career after six years this summer.

When did Liverpool sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain?
In the summer of 2017, the Reds announced the signing of former Arsenal ace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had spent six years in north London before making the move to Merseyside.

The then-24-year-old was signed for a fee of £35m, a price that was poised to rise to £40m based on appearance-related add-ons to the joy of the Gunners.

At the time of his departure, the Englishman had just one year remaining on his contract with Arsenal, making the collection of £35m a strong deal for those at the Emirates for a player whose future was far from guaranteed in the favoured XI.

How many goals did Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain score?
Oxlade-Chamberlain left Arsene Wenger’s side having scored just 20 goals in 198 appearances, with only nine Premier League goals to his name in 132 league appearances, seeing him once branded as “awful” by journalist Miguel Delaney.

It was a confusing deal for a club as ‘on the up’ as Liverpool to agree to the expenditure of a versatile forward that didn’t have many goals to his name, however it quickly became apparent that Klopp saw the winger’s position further back.

For Liverpool, things seemed to click for the 5 foot 11 menace at first, as he was integrated into central midfield and given licence to roam.

The positional change seemed to work as Oxlade-Chamberlain had a hand in ten goals in his debut Premier League season at Anfield, scoring three and assisting seven in 32 appearances.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2023, and the Portsmouth-born whiz departed Liverpool having scored 18 goals in 146 appearances, a far from admirable tally but he had rounded the jaded edges of his game that had not been tamed at Arsenal.

How much did Liverpool spend on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain?
The most pivotal factor of the misunderstood England international’s game was his inability to keep fit, seeing him missing almost 600 days of action at Liverpool, amounting to just under two years of availability over his six-year stay.

While the Englishman’s tally in front of goal marginally improved, his development was hugely hindered by his consistent battle with injury and subsequently, his slip down the pecking order.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s career earnings

Club

Year

Weekly Wage

Arsenal

2013-2014

£52k

Arsenal

2014-2017

£55k

Liverpool

2017-2019

£80k

Liverpool

2019-2023

£120k

Besiktas

2023-2026

£48k

All stats via Capology

Despite his unfortunate injury woes not being any fault of his own, Liverpool were drained financially by the entire deal regarding the now 30-year-old’s stay at Anfield.

In total, the Reds spent roughly £68m to accommodate the midfielder’s tenure, due to his £35m price tag plus his colossus £33m picked up in wages over the six years he was employed by the club.

When he first arrived, the former Arsenal dud was earning £4.1m-per-year, which increased to £6.2m-per-year in 2019 when he penned a contract extension, amounting to a weekly wage of £120k, via Capology.

Did Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain deserve to earn so much?
Putting aside the fact that the midfielder, despite being frustrating at times, was a likeable figure on Merseyside, his presence and inability to secure consistent game time made his price tag and wage bill difficult to merit.

When dividing the £33m in wages that the Englishman received at Liverpool by the number of goals he scored in six years, the figure amounts to around £1.8m-per-goal-scored which is harrowing reading for the Reds.

This summer, the decision was made not to extend Oxlade-Chamberlain’s contract as he made nine appearances in the 2022/23 campaign, resulting in him leaving as a free agent at the expiration of his £120k-per-week deal.

Today, the 30-year-old is valued at €6.2m (£5.3m), conveying his decline over the years as he progresses in a new chapter of his story at Besiktas.

With one Champions League medal and a Premier League winners medal, the midfielder departed with silverware to add to his 18 goals scored, while Liverpool continue to weigh up the benefits of his expense.

How much do other Liverpool players earn?
While Oxlade-Chamberlain’s chapter has closed, the Reds continue to have some well-paid earners at the club, despite not pulling their weight on the pitch.

The Englishman was in the top-ten earners at Liverpool based on last season’s calculations of wage payments, with another questionable name in the lucrative list.

Similarly to Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thiago Alcantara has made a minimal impact at Anfield, despite being one of the squad’s top earners at present.

The Spaniard picks up an eye-watering £200k-per-week on Merseyside, and after three years has made only 97 appearances in all competitions following his £25m arrival from Bayern Munich.

Last season, the 32-year-old recorded 18 Premier League appearances, just nine more than Oxlade-Chamberlain, yet continues to reside as Klopp’s third-highest earner on £10.4m-per-year.

The two-time Champions League winner and seven-time Bundesliga winner will earn a total of £41.6m in wages alone as he plays out his fourth and final year of his contract with the Reds, making the total expenditure around the sum of £66m including his transfer fee.

Still, Thiago has cost Liverpool a lower amount than Oxlade-Chamberlain did during his time at the club, identifying two of the most frustrating, draining deals in the recent Anfield squad.

By leaving England, the 30-year-old closed his chapter in his homeland after representing Southampton, Arsenal and Liverpool, in a 13-year professional spell that amounted to 48 goals and £50.8m generated in wages alone.

All in all, the Portsmouth-born midfielder failed to make an adequate impact at either club, departing Anfield having rinsed the Reds for millions with little in return.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rosie Tudball
(691 Articles Published)
Rosie is a freelance writer and Sports Journalism graduate from Solent University in 2019.

Since leaving University, Rosie has contributed to websites such as VAVEL.com, GGFN, Pundit Feed and Online Gooner.

Rosie is a huge Arsenal fan and contributes to the classic club fanzine The Gooner.