Brighton & Hove Albion have announced the signing of midfielder James Milner on a one-year contract with the option of a 12-month extension.
The 37-year-old will end his eight-year association with Liverpool when his contract at Anfield expires at the end of this month, and he will officially link up with his new Seagulls teammates on July 1.
Milner made a total of 332 appearances for the Reds across all competitions, contributing with 26 goals and 45 assists, and he won seven trophies including the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup.
The experienced and versatile midfielder fell down the pecking order under Jurgen Klopp last season and had to settle for a peripheral role in the first-team squad, starting just 12 of his 43 appearances in all tournaments.
Milner is now looking forward to a fresh challenge with Brighton, who secured their first-ever top-six finish in the Premier League in 2022-23 and have qualified for the Europa League for the first time in their history.
Welcome to #BHAFC, @JamesMilner! 👋 pic.twitter.com/dtziUeed53
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) June 14, 2023
Speaking to Brighton's official website on Milner's arrival at the Amex Stadium, head coach Roberto De Zerbi said: "I'm very glad to welcome James to Brighton. He's an excellent addition for us and I'm sure he will help to bring us to an even higher level."
Technical director David Weir added, "We are delighted that James has agreed to join us after a hugely successful period at Liverpool. His experience speaks for itself with the amount of games he has played and the trophies he has won throughout a decorated career.
"These games include European competition, which will be of huge value to us as we embark on our first season in Europe.
"We're looking forward to working with James when the players return for pre-season."
Milner becomes Brighton's second signing of the summer transfer window after Brazilian forward Joao Pedro, who has joined the Seagulls from Watford for an undisclosed fee believed to be a club-record £30m.
The 61-cap England international will now reunite with former Liverpool teammate Adam Lallana, who has spent that last three years at the Amex Stadium and believes that Brighton's latest signing has a lot to offer the club heading into the new season.
© Reuters
"I look at our dressing room now and characters are building everywhere," said Lallana. "James has been in the Premier League for a long time, he defines the word professionalism and if we can use the strengths of players like him and others of that ilk and help the group overall it's only going to help. And he's older than me so he can have the headlines about being the oldest player in the group!
"I think it has gone under the radar how many senior players we've got. [Lewis] Dunk, [Pascal] Gross, [Danny] Welbeck, [Jason] Steele are all in their thirties and it helps the dressing room.
"We help provide the environment for the hidden gems to express themselves, that's the model and James will help us with that.
"If you've got a team with eight to nine good senior lads like we have that's pivotal to success. I look at the Southampton team when they won back to back promotions and to the Liverpool team I played in, there was always a core of leaders."
Lallana added: "We need to keep building, we will be playing two to three times a week and that is difficult, not just the physical side of playing on Thursday and Sunday but also the mental side.
"The Premier League can become less glamorous, and we can't have that happening to us. For us to progress as a football club we need to be relentless."
Only Gareth Barry (652) and Ryan Giggs (632) have made more Premier League appearances than Milner (619), who has also represented Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Manchester City during his 21-year professional career.
