James Milner: Jurgen Klopp told me to have a break when I retire – but then I’m running marathons

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So to contribute to that, that’s always number one.”Milner receives three Guinness World Records after notching his 654th Premier League appearance (Brighton & Hove Albion)Of course, Milner meant no disrespect and emphasised he was incredibly grateful for the tidal wave of congratulations that had come his way. “He just said congrats, and he said he’s going away and golfing somewhere, so that sounded good to me.” You don’t get many football bingo cards more filled out than Milner’s (and that’s not a quip at his age).Across a Premier League career that has spanned 23 years, 109 days and counting, the Englishman has won every trophy under the sun, including three Premier League titles and one Champions League during his glory-laden stints with Manchester City and Liverpool.

It’s all right me saying I want to play another year if the club don’t want you.”Whether it’s sooner or later, and whether it’s his decision to make or Brighton’s, Milner is under no illusions: “I know the end’s getting closer.” The veteran, however, asserts that he doesn’t “fear” retirement, even if the question of “when’s the right time?” does play on his mind. You’re going in the gym and it’s hard, it’s for a reason, it’s for the next game and things like that,” Milner said with a sense of pre-emptive nostalgia, before reassuring that his world-class engine will not be detuned in retirement.“When you haven’t got that, I think I’d probably look towards doing marathons or something like that to give me something to go for again.”Milner says he will ‘probably look towards doing marathons’ once he retires (Getty)Milner will leave football with arguably the most fabled work ethic in the English game.

He boasts longevity that with the modern fixture schedule will be nigh-on impossible to replicate, fuelled by a drive to prove his doubters wrong – something his dad used to play on.“He knew what I was like and he used to say, ‘you don't work hard enough, you're not gonna make it’,” Milner remembered. Milner has been earning his coaching badges but knows the hellfire that the job can pose.“There are some times I think it’d be great and I’d love to put my stamp on a team, and I think I could do this and that,” he says.