PREMIER LEAGUE clubs being back for pre-season means only one thing – James Milner winning Liverpool's lactate test.
For a SEVENTH year in a row the 36-year-old veteran has put the club's youngsters to shame.
Liverpool put their players returning for pre-season through a lactate test, which measures players' lactic acid levels as they run over an increasing distance.
Those whose levels are too high are knocked out as the test continues.
And going into his 21st season in the Premier League, Milner was last man standing yet again.
He has won the test every year he has been at the club, according to the Liverpool Echo, which makes this year's win his seventh triumph.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
Lenglet to Tottenham in ‘FINAL’ steps, Richarlison’s BAN, Poch SACKED by PSG
Sign up to Sun Vegas now for a £10 bonus – with NO deposit required!
Joe Gomez was the last player to keep up with Milner but even the 25-year-old was left for dead by a man 11 years his senior.
Footage posted to Liverpool's Twitter account shows Milner finishing the last lap of the test ahead of Gomez.
He was clapped home by his teammates who watched on, while boss Jurgen Klopp could only laugh and say: "Wow!"
Although Liverpool's internationals are yet to return to training, so Milner was not competing against the super-fit Jordan Henderson or Mohamed Salah.
Most read in Football
'RAPE' COPS SWOOP
Prem star arrested at 3am on suspicion of raping woman on holiday in Med
Premier League ace arrested for rape as 6 cop cars swoop on London home
Ronaldo spotted for first time since not turning up for Man Utd pre-season
Three Man Utd kids who have impressed Ten Hag in first week to shake up squad
BETTING SPECIAL – LATEST OFFERS AND FREE BETS FOR WIMBLEDON
Milner signed a one-year extension at Anfield last month with his previous deal set to expire this summer.
The versatile midfielder has drawn comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo in the past for keeping himself in peak physical condition, and is teetotal.
Ex-Manchester City physio Paul Webster told Goal earlier this year: "I watched (Milner) against Chelsea and he was probably one of the fittest on the pitch.
"He looks young, he looks fit, he's probably got eight percent body fat or something ridiculous.
"He's a bit like Ronaldo. I've never worked with Ronaldo, but I know people that have and I get the same impression.
"It's all the little things that add up, and they have more little things to add up."
Source: Read Full Article