Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that defender Kyle Walker has asked to leave the club. The shock news came following City’s 8-0 demolition of Salford in the FA Cup, and it appears possible Walker’s exit will be sealed before the end of the current transfer window.
Walker, 34, joined Manchester City from Spurs in the summer of 2017, and since then, he’s been a key part of their unrivalled success domestically and in Europe. Walker is a six-time Premier League title winner with City and has also won the Champions League with the club. With Walker due to turn thirty-five in May, he’s looking for potentially one final challenge before the end of his career, a challenge away from English football.
At the time of writing, sports betting markets suggests that the front runners for Walker’s signature are Italian giants Milan. According to reports, the Serie A outfit have already opened talks to make the move happen, but they’re sure to have rivals for the defender’s signature. Saudi Pro League clubs have long been linked with an interest in Walker, and while previous moves have led to nothing, the landscape has changed in recent months.
City have been out of form and endured their worst run under Guardiola, and the team’s poor performances have been a major topic of discussion. Walker, who has, for the first time, been outpaced by several players, has been labelled somewhat of a fading force, and this has led to City’s captain being in and out of the team. From the sixteen squads Walker has been involved in, he’s only made nine starts, which is telling.
The task for City and Guardiola now is to find a way forward without Walker. Guardiola spoke of how integral Walker has been to the success he and City have enjoyed over the last seven years, and it appears as though he’s willing to grant the club legend’s wishes to depart in January for pastures new. But it presents a problem all the same if City are to continue operating with full-backs.
In one respect, City have a ready made replacement in Rico Lewis, although he’s a different style of player to Walker. Lewis, who is still only twenty years old, has started fifteen times in the Premier League but hasn’t played exclusively as a right-back. At present, the right-back slot is Lewis’ position to lose, but he’s also played at left-back and in the middle of the park.
With news of Walker’s imminent departure reverberating around the club, City have continued to press on with their January transfer plans, and they so far don’t include the arrival of a new right back. Centre-backs Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov of Palmeiras and RC Lens, respectively, are expected to move to City in the near future. As is striker Omar Marmoush of Eintracht Frankfurt, who is seen as a replacement for Julian Alvarez, who departed the Etihad in the summer.