James Milner Bio

Milner was constantly linked with a move away from St James's Park during his two years at the club and eventually made it clear he would be moving in the summer of 2008 when he handed in a transfer request.

A skilful, tricky player with the ability to beat a man, Milner returned to Villa Park where had spent a season on loan in 2006, joining Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa on a four-year deal.

Milner originally burst onto the scene with Leeds when becoming the second youngest player ever to appear in the Premiership. He then trumped that on Boxing Day by becoming the Premiership's youngest-ever scorer.

At the age of sixteen and 309 days Milner was second only to Coventry City's Gary McSheffrey - but beat Wayne Rooney's scoring record by four days when he secured a win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

He also became the second youngest ever player at Elland Road behind legend Peter Lorimer.

Milner's debut came when he replaced Jason Wilcox for the final six minutes of the 4-3 win at West Ham United in November 2002.

Leeds' relegation into the Football League in 2004 led to speculation over his future, with Tottenham Hotspur the first club to test the water. Aston Villa and Everton also expressed an interest.

Despite Leeds (again) telling supporters that one of their star names would not be sold, money eventually talked. Newcastle made several enquiries before Leeds accepted an offer of £3.6million, rising to £5million on appearances.

Milner, who had penned a five year deal with Leeds only a year earlier, rebuffed the West Yorkshire club's attempts to tie him to another improved contract. The youngster even rejected a double-your-money offer.

Although Milner still had four years left on his deal, Leeds decided the cash in and the offer from St James' Park was too good to turn down. Milner agreed a five-year deal at the start of July 2004.

He made his Newcastle debut in a 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough but struggled to gain a first team place, leading to a loan move to Aston Villa for 2005/06.

Milner soon became an important player - and O'Leary bemoaned the fact he could not afford to sign him on a permanent basis.

Back at Newcastle, and with Glenn Roeder in charge, a number of clubs declared their interest in the transfer window of January 2007 but those offers were shunned and Milner signed a new four-year deal.

However, after doing well in the 2007/08 season, a reported £10million bid from Aston Villa piqued his interest in the summer of 2008 and he made the move to Midlands club. Signing a four-year deal in Birmingham instead.