The old statesman who has seen it all is looking at a picture of the young boy with a head full of dreams and he can’t quite believe it.
‘How big were the shirts?!’ James Milner exclaims, laughing at the image in front of him. It is from November 10, 2002 and the moment his Premier League career began, when Terry Venables sent him on as substitute in a 4-3 win over West Ham at Upton Park.
‘They’re ridiculous, aren’t they? That would be too big for Virgil (van Dijk), that! I’m sure the Leeds fans would have been thinking (then): “who the hell is this guy?