Thank you, Millie - James Milner's Liverpool story

Milner arrived at the club in the summer of 2015 and would go on to make 332 appearances, score 26 goals and lift seven trophies along the way.

His contribution – on and off the pitch – to that success is immeasurable.

"Without Millie, it wouldn't have been possible," Jürgen Klopp once said. It's a statement reinforced by the fact only Roberto Firmino has played more games under Klopp than Milner.

A tribute to James Milner

Having moved to Anfield on a free transfer from Manchester City, he was quickly installed as vice-captain by then-manager Brendan Rodgers due to his leadership skills and the example he set.

His first goal for the club came in a 3-2 win over Aston Villa in September 2015, before Klopp took over the reins and relied on Milner's influence to help implement the new boss' vision for the team.

Shoots of progression were beginning to show towards the end of the 2015-16 campaign, with Milner laying on the assist for Dejan Lovren's dramatic winner over Borussia Dortmund en route to the Europa League final.

So dependable Milner is, he spent pretty much all of Klopp's first full season in charge, 2016-17, admirably and capably filling in at left-back.

He made 40 appearances that term – 36 of which came in the Premier League – as Liverpool clinched Champions League qualification by finishing fourth.

The Reds' return to Europe's premier club competition would take them all the way to the Kyiv final in 2018 and see Milner make history in the process.

He registered nine assists throughout the 2017-18 Champions League – the highest number ever recorded in a single campaign.

Ultimately, that season ended in heartbreak after defeat by Real Madrid in Ukraine – but Milner and his teammates would pick themselves up and go again.

An astonishing 97-point season wasn't enough to take the Premier League title; however, the club's sixth European Cup was then delivered on a famous night in Madrid.

Milner raised six fingers towards the Liverpool fans inside Estadio Metropolitano after full-time of the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, having come on as a second-half substitute.

"It will be nice going to Melwood seeing No.6 there," he reacted. "Liverpool has a great history and when I signed for the club, I was desperate to add trophies as this club expects to win trophies and it has an amazing history – but we want to create our own history."

That they did.

The UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup were then raised, before the club's 30-year wait for a league title was ended in 2019-20.

Milner made 22 Premier League appearances as the squad scaled new heights to put a club-record 99 points on the board and force yet another change to the Champions Wall.

A testing 2020-21 season ended with a third-placed finish and Milner becoming the 80th – and oldest – player to reach the landmark of 250 games for the club.

He added 39 more outings to that total during the 63-match 2021-22 campaign that saw the team compete on four fronts. Helping further bolster Liverpool's honours list, the No.7 appeared in the Carabao Cup and Emirates FA Cup final victories over Chelsea at Wembley.

Milner bid Anfield an emotional farewell at the end of 2022-23, during which he featured 43 times and rose up to third spot on the Premier League's all-time appearances list.

He leaves having played more times for the Reds than any other club in his storied career.

"I'm Leeds through and through and always have been and always will be – but I never probably thought that another club would get into me as much as Liverpool has," Milner said.

Everyone at Liverpool FC would like to thank James for his contributions across the last eight years and wish him all the best for the future.