Spurs offer for Milner accepted-player refuses

By Andy Baggott
May 13 2004

At last some good news for Leeds fans as James Milner looks certain to stay at the club. Spurs had a bid accepted by the Leeds board, believed to be around £6 million, but Milner has stated that he doesn’t want to go anywhere.

This is exactly what we needed to hear, although slightly worrying is the boards readiness to accept a bid, which at £6 million is high, but certainly not the silly money that Krasner said it would take to sell him. This comes the day after Spurs have all but signed Paul Robinson, for a fee of around £1.5 - £2 million pounds. The deal is expected to be tied up in the days after the transfer window opens on Sunday.

What do you think of the new board? (try and keep it clean!!). What of the impending sale of Robinson, and the no sale of Milner? Discuss on the message board. Here is the full story of the Milner transfer story taken from the official Leeds web page….

United's young midfielder James Milner IS staying at Leeds United after vowing to help the club climb back into the Premiership. Speculation that the 18-year-old could be on his way to Tottenham in a deal worth over £6m has caused great concern from supporters, coming less than 24-hours after it was revealed Paul Robinson was ready to join Spurs in a £1.5m deal next week. But it has emerged that Milner is rejecting any chance to move away from Elland Road and will stay loyal to the Whites. Mick McGuire, deputy chief executive of the PFA, who is Milner's agent, told PA Sport: "It is true to say Tottenham Hotspur made a fantastic bid for James and I have discussed the matter with both the Leeds chief executive, Dave Richmond, and I have also spoken at length with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy. "In fairness, the bid was tremendous and the way both clubs have conducted themselves in this matter has been thoroughly professional and at no point did we feel that Leeds were trying to push James out the door. "Leeds felt it was their duty to keep James fully informed and as a matter of courtesy they allowed us to talk to Tottenham because not only was it an outstanding offer but it would have helped the club's current plight as well. "However I did not even talk terms with Daniel Levy because James' heart is set on staying at Leeds and that has nothing to do with which club came in for him. "James is totally committed to Leeds and wants to stay at Elland Road and he feels that another year with added responsibility can only enhance his ability as a player. "There is a clause in James' contract which allows us to renegotiate his current deal after a certain number of games and he has long passed that mark but as yet we did not feel it was the right time to talk to the club. We are pleased to see that the chairman has already spoken about renegotiating his contract and the chief executive is in full support of that and I shall be going to speak to Leeds within the next fortnight in order to secure a longer term commitment from James and the club. "As far as we are concerned, the matter with Spurs is now over and they cannot prise James away from Leeds, but that is a football decision. We now hope the club will show their appreciation and commitment to one of their bright young stars."