Reflecting on his pivotal 2010 move from Aston Villa, James Milner has shared that the lure of transforming Manchester City from underdogs into serial winners was why he snubbed Chelsea.
James Milner went down in Premier League history during Brighton’s 2-0 victory over Brentford. The 40-year-old made his 654th appearance in the competition, officially surpassing Gareth Barry to become the record holder.
By March 2026, he has surpassed 900 career club appearances across 24 professional seasons.
Chelsea are longing for an experienced defender right now, as they continue to reel from Thiago Silva’s absence at Stamford Bridge.
And it could have been a whole lot different at the start of his career.
QUARTER-FINAL 1: Liam Rosenior vs Frank Lampard
James Milner could have joined Chelsea
Speaking on the Rest Is Football, James Milner admitted that he was persuaded to join Manchester City due to wanting to be a part of building something special.
“Yeah. I mean, for sure. I think at that point I had a chance of going to Chelsea, maybe. I think.”
Why did you choose City?
“Because of what you just said. I feel like Chelsea had been successful and won trophies and Man City hadn’t for a very long time. I thought, you know, it’d be great to start that and be part of that and win trophies there and um yeah, there that was the main decision really and went there and was fortunate enough to be part of, you know, the first one, the FA Cup was huge.”
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