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In the 21st century footballing world, players can often be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

One major talking point that particularly leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many are the astronomical wages certain stars receive.

At a time where commercial deals, contract bonuses and image rights deals are at an all-time high, capital has very much become the focal point of the beautiful game.

But, one man who certainly bucks the trend of the modern-day glitz and glamour is Tranmere’s Ishmael Miller.

The 31-year-old striker joined the club at the start of January and scored on his debut in a 3-1 win versus Cheltenham Town.

Miller, however, has been out of side since sustaining a hamstring injury versus Swindon Town in the following match.

Now set for a spell on the sidelines, Tranmere manager Micky Mellon confirms Miller has personally asked for his wages to be stopped until he is fit to play - a gesture Mellon described as ‘fantastic’.

“At this moment in time Ishamel Miller is not getting paid by Tranmere”, revealed the Rovers boss.

“I need everybody to understand how big a gesture that is”, he added.

“Ishmael Miller wants Tranmere to keep moving forward. He said ‘stop my wages until I get fit again’, which is possibly the first or one of the first times I’ve heard that.

“If he had stayed getting paid and just got himself fit, nobody would have blinked an eyelid, because that’s what is supposed to happen. From the conversation we had, he just said right at the start: ‘Gaffer, have you got a minute? This is what I would like to happen’.”

Indeed, this wonderful offer from Miller is one that Mellon believes 'says a lot about him as a man'.

“He’s had on operation yesterday on his hamstring, he’ll get himself fit again, and when he does, he’ll come back into the group and be one of us. But for the minute he’s not getting paid by Tranmere, which I think is fantastic and really says an awful lot about him as a man.

"Often footballers get the wrong publicity but he thought about Tranmere and us, and I thought that was brilliant.”

Upon his arrival at the club, the Whites manager claims he sat down with the former Manchester City forward and set out what they hoped to achieve. Though It now seems Miller has exceeded all expectations.

“When Ishmael first came, we had a conversation as to why he was coming, how important it was to us that it was a success, and we asked him to think about that before he came, said Mellon.

“Was he right up for the challenge of trying to move Tranmere forward? And 100%, he said. 100%.

“That’s important, because sometimes you can be seen to be signing players of a certain experience, at a certain financial area in their lives, and people will talk about desire and what their motivations are. It was important that we asked him the question, and he said ‘no, I’m right up for it’.

“He obviously got injured, he came to me about a week ago and said ‘stop my wages’.

"Of course, people will say he might be in a position to do that, but he doesn’t have to do that. He knows how tight things are at Tranmere, he knows where we’re at in terms of a club and what we’re trying to do. We needed to be able to move the playing squad forward.”

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