Milner Madness: Is The Aston Villa Midfielder Really Worth £24 Million?

James Milner appears set to become the must-have accessory for the Premiership's leading lights this coming preseason.

After a season which has been solid, if not spectacular, Milner's stock has risen to the extent that a bidding war between Man Utd and Man City is being predicted in the British media with a potential price tag of £24 million predicted.

Milner is the last in a long line of English players to see their value rise meteorically after impressing at a slightly smaller club.

He is following in the footsteps of players like Scott Parker, Michael Carrick, Shaun Wright Phillips, Joleon Lescott, and Gareth Barry, fellow Englishman who impressed sufficiently outside of the big four to seal a big money move.

Milner has had his best season to date, scoring 10 goals. However, only five of these goals have come in the league which does not represent a spectacular output for an attacking midfielder, particularly given that he is Aston Villa's designated penalty taker.

Man Utd have made a couple of solid signings under similar circumstances, taking Wayne Rooney from Everton and Rio Ferdinand from Leeds Utd for around £30 million each. The jury is still out on £18.6 million Michael Carrick.

Man City will feel that the preseason signing of Gareth Barry was £12 million well spent.

In hindsight the £22 million spent on Joleon Lescott does not appear such a good bit of business, particularly given that the man he replaced, Richard Dunne, has had a superb season at Aston Villa. Dunne was sold by Man City for £6 million.

English players come at a premium and the slightest suggestion of talent is enough to send their price rocketing. Big spending Chelsea were seduced into spending £25 Million on Shaun Wright Phillips but ended up selling him back to Man City for around a third of that price.

A series of impressive performances by Scott Parker prompted Chelsea to splash out £10 million after a protracted transfer saga. He was sold to Newcastle Utd for just over half that price after failing to impress at Stamford Bridge.

It seems that, at the sight of a promising young English player, Premiership managers are unable to restrain themselves from reaching frantically for the cheque book.

Chelsea purchased French player of the year Florent Malouda for £13.5 million. Arsenal spent only slightly more on established international Andrey Arshavin. The outstanding Wesley Sneider cost Inter Milan a mere £13 million last summer.

All of these players play in a similar position to Milner and are, at present, far superior footballers.

Milner is only 24 and has the potential to improve but is far from being twice the player that Wesley Sneider is, yet Man City appear to be seriously considering purchasing him for double the price which Real Madrid received for Sneider recently.

It is admirable that clubs are seeking to sign up the best domestic talent, rather than looking overseas for enforcements, but the price you pay for up-and-coming English talent is becoming exorbitant.

You can understand Arsene Wenger choosing to bringing in players from foreign leagues such as Sami Nasri, Andrey Arshavin, and Cesc Fabregas when you take into consideration how much their English equivalent would cost.

Milner looks destined for a big money move and he has done enough to deserve the opportunity to ply his trade as a top four club.

If the projected £24 million transfer fee really does go through it would make Milner the third-expensive English player of all-time behind Rooney and Ferdinand. Both these players have done more than enough to justify Man Utd manager Alex Ferguson's expenditure on them.

Milner has improved steadily since signing for Aston Villa but with big price tags come big expectations. If Milner's big money move does materialize he will have to show an even more dramatic improvement next season if he is to live up to his.