Emre, Dyer, Duff, Geremi, Smith, Luque, Viana, Butt, Carr, Kluivert have all been at the club during Milners time with us who are all arguably technically better players (or were based on their reputations at their previous clubs), and I would say over a long period of time Milner has been more consistent.
I'm not saying he's a brilliant player, just that he would be a more than adequate squad player for us, especially now.