A brilliant Xl of players who were born after James Milner’s debut

Despite being 36 years old and with over 850 career appearances to his name, Liverpool’s James Milner refuses to hang up his boots.

Milner made his first-team debut at the age of 16 back in November 2002, coming off the bench for the closing stages of Leeds United’s 4-3 win over West Ham at Upton Park.

He’s since enjoyed a brilliant career, but we’ve compiled an Xl of exciting players who were born after the midfielder made his professional debut.

GK: Gabriel Slonina

Goalkeepers generally hit their prime a lot later than outfield players and there aren’t many Under-19 goalkeepers in Europe’s top five leagues.

But Slonina, who was born in May 2004, is already a regular for Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire and has kept 10 clean sheets in 27 first-team appearances. 

The 18-year-old has recently been the subject of a transfer battle between Chelsea and Real Madrid but now looks set to join the former in a €10million deal.

RB: Tino Livramento

After Reece James and Tariq Lamptey, Chelsea’s academy managed to produce another great right-back in Livramento.

The 19-year-old won the Chelsea Academy Player of the Year award in 2020-21 but then decided to join Southampton on a permanent deal in search of regular first-team football.

He produced a Man of the Match performance on his home debut against Manchester United and continued to impress in 2021-22, playing more Premier League minutes than any other teenager.

Just @tino_livramento doing @tino_livramento things 💫 pic.twitter.com/rx2MbD3UWX

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) March 25, 2022

CB: Levi Colwill

Another Chelsea academy graduate, Colwill is highly rated at Stamford Bridge and has often been compared with Milner’s former England team-mate John Terry.

The centre-back flourished out on loan at Huddersfield Town in 2021-22, making 32 appearances as the Terriers reached the Championship play-off final. 

“Listen, I’ve played with some good players and he is right up there,” Huddersfield’s Duane Holmes said. “I played with [Fikayo] Tomori who plays centre-back for England and Levi is right up there with him.

“He is 19 years old and he has been one of our best players this season.”

Colwill is reportedly in Thomas Tuchel’s plans for 2022-23 but Leicester City, Southampton, Brighton and Crystal Palace are all reportedly interested in the England Under-21 international.

CB: Castello Lukeba

Lyon have sold plenty of wonderful players over the…