Milner: I won’t stay beyond my England welcome

Daniel Storey

James Milner says that he is prepared to walk away from England after Euro 2016 if it allows younger players to come through.

The 30-year-old made his England debut in 2009 against Holland and is in line to pick up his next cap against the same side on Tuesday night.

The Liverpool man has more caps than anyone in Hodgson’s party and is likely to go to Euro 2016 as one of England’s experienced campaigners. But he will seek talks after the summer if it looks as though he has fallen down the pecking order.

“I don’t know really, I can see pluses and minuses for both and you probably get criticised either way whichever way you take it,” he said when asked if he would be tempted to walk away from international football before dropping out of contention.

“I think that is a conversation I will probably have with the manager at the start of next season.

“I don’t want to be travelling around and not really contributing and being a good tourist. I want to contribute and if the manager sees I have a part to play then great and if not it is better for me to set aside and let younger guys travel around.

“I have been in four tournaments and built up a lot of caps and a lot of experience. Travelling around now I can help the younger guys. It’s beneficial for a younger guy to come in and travel around.

“That’s a conversation I will have with the manager and see where he sees me and if I am going to take on a lesser role it is probably better for someone else to step up.”

He’s just a nice man, isn’t he?