When James Milner last left the Etihad Stadium pitch, his weary trudge towards the touchline came to the backdrop of a standing ovation. It was respectful, but not overly dramatic, the sort of gesture a common-sense character would appreciate. He had not officially announced he was leaving Manchester City, but everyone present for May’s 2-0 win over Southampton assumed it would be their last sight of him in a sky blue shirt. So it proved.

When Raheem Sterling was last involved in a Liverpool game, he wasn’t really involved at all. He was an unused substitute in a historic humiliation, not required to take the field as Liverpool, beaten 6-1 by Stoke, suffered their heaviest league defeat since 1963. It was Steven Gerrard’s final game and City’s biggest win over Liverpool since 1897 but the enormity of the occasion did not shield Sterling. He was jeered by some travelling fans and loudly branded a “greedy bastard” by much of the Stoke support. He seemed a pariah. The message was clear: goodbye and good riddance.

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Within two months they had completed an elaborate, lopsidedly expensive swap deal. Opposites had moved in different directions, City’s model professional going to Anfield and Liverpool’s resident rebel to the Etihad Stadium. Four months later, each has a reunion on Saturday. Milner can be assured of another fine reception from the City fans. The Liverpool supporters who will constitute a vocal minority at the Etihad Stadium are less likely to applaud Sterling. His move east may net them £49 million and, even when QPR’s 20 percent sell-on clause is factored in, that still represents a profitable piece of business but emotionally the sense of rejection outweighs the benefits on the balance sheet.

In contrast, City invested £26 million in Milner when he joined from Aston Villa in 2010. They saw him depart on a free transfer. Perhaps a club accustomed to making losses on those with either a worse attitude – in the cases of Robinho, Mario Balotelli and Emmanuel Adebayor, to name but three – or whose contributions had been far slighter – as those of Wayne Bridge, Roque Santa Cruz and Jack Rodwell were – could afford to be generous in their affections.

James Milner celebrates a goal for Manchester City Image credit: PA Photos

In his understated, industrious way, Milner had helped turn the last few years into City’s modern-day golden age, yet it seemed to sum him up that he was at his finest in the adversity of the difficult seasons when his side were starved of silverware, when more vaunted talents were underachieving but, with diligent proficiency, he was not.

With his bold brilliance, his youth and pace, Sterling briefly personified the Liverpool team Brendan Rodgers almost piloted to the title City eventually won in 2014, but his Anfield years were ultimately barren. He cited a desire to win trophies as a reason for switching clubs. Unlike him, Milner was spared accusations of avarice and ambition. He had rejected a £165,000-a-week offer to stay at City. His personal aims were different: not silverware but simply first-team football in his preferred position of centre midfield, an end to his days as the odd-job man and the probability he would be benched for the bigger games and because of more glamorous figures.

He was immediately installed as vice-captain by Rodgers. He has led Liverpool in Jordan Henderson’s absence and been branded “the perfect professional” by Jurgen Klopp. Do the maths and Milner was much the better recruit; Liverpool pocketed up to £49 million, meaning City funded much of their outlay on Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino, two of the three costliest players they have ever bought, as well as acquiring an automatic choice who could be portrayed as Gerrard’s replacement.

Consider footballing factors, however, and Sterling is the transformative signing. City paid over the odds, but they can afford such expensive upgrades. As Manuel Pellegrini had to be weaned off 4-4-2, he required players who could stretch teams laterally and Sterling is an antidote to nominal wingers such as David Silva and Samir Nasri who wander infield, and with the speed to burst beyond the sole remaining striker. The 20-year-old possesses both attributes. He has been erratic, not least in front of goal – indeed his calmest finish to date remains his preternaturally cool effort against City in April 2014 – and a couple of his performances in bigger games, against Juventus and Manchester United, have ranked as disappointments. Nevertheless, he has added another dimension to the league leaders.

Raheem Sterling left Liverpool under a cloud Image credit: AFP

The same cannot be said of Milner. Bywords for consistency are rarely seen as catalysts anyway but he is a player who, when both are fit, could merely duplicate the similarly energetic Henderson’s contribution. As it is, Milner’s many attributes render him endlessly versatile, yet the absence of a defining quality – his admirable attitude and formidable fitness levels aside – makes it harder to build a team around him, as his time at City showed. “I’m Milner’s No. 1 fan,” said Manuel Pellegrini in March. “Show me a more complete English player. It’s hard to leave him out.” But he usually did, starting the 29-year-old in only 30 of 76 league games.

The lesser personnel in the Liverpool squad gives Milner a centrality but Klopp, noticeably, shunted him out to the right when he switched to 4-2-3-1. Liverpool’s is a squad short of wingers. They opted not to sign a like-for-like replacement for Sterling, so, different as they are, Milner could be shoehorned into the role of Sterling’s successor.

Yet it is not a role reversal. While Milner, to his frustration, often occupied the wider roles, for City, perhaps his real proxy at the Etihad Stadium is not Sterling but Fabian Delph, another powerful player signed from Villa and one who is challenged with rivalling Fernando and Fernandinho for the more defensive roles. Competition for places among City’s attacking midfielders has grown greater with the additions of the £100m pair of Kevin de Bruyne and Sterling. His days in more advanced positions may have been brought to an end.

Perhaps Milner would have relished that, but the likelihood is he would have spent more time on the bench. Certainly the reception City fans granted him six months ago was a recognition that an uncomplaining trier had been underused. Sterling may have been misused at Liverpool, especially when he was alternating between striker and wing-back while the less distinguished Adam Lallana was allowed to operate as one of twin No. 10s.

Certainly his agent thought so and the contrast between the outspoken Aidy Ward and Milner’s low-profile, eminently-sensible representatives at the PFA are one reason why one has an image problem and the other a reputation for reliable dullness. Sterling was seen as the troublemaker, the agitator who walked away from five-time European champions for a sizeable pay rise. He became the most expensive Englishman ever while Liverpool’s stand-in captain an asset acquired on a free transfer. Yet while Milner has sometimes seemed to be striving to stave off further decline at Anfield, Sterling is likelier to take City to another level.

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