Guardiola's Determined Kyle Won't Walker Off From City

Having seen off the unexpected challenge of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal to take yet another Premier League title in the 2022/23 campaign (as well as finally lifting a long awaited Champions League trophy), it has not yet been another busy summer for Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola given the battles that lie ahead.

This time last season there were big name and notable departures, but despite the speculation that exists on the transfer window rumour mill this month, nothing concrete has happened outside of really, Ilkay Gundogan’s move to Barcelona and Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic coming in. Even with those departures, City are still firm favourites to retain the Premier League title with Betway.

City fans are undoubtedly eagerly wondering who else Guardiola might bring in before the start of the campaign in an effort to strengthen us further, but somewhat surprisingly departures on the rumour mill seem like they are far more likely to happen but fans who like a flutter, they might want to avoid tempting odds on one particular departure happening this year if Guardiola’s words are anything to go by.

Namely, the speculated future of England full back Kyle Walker, who made no secret of the fact that he was not best impressed at the end of the 2022/23 campaign when he lost his place in the starting XI.

The 33 year old defender was on the bench for the Champions League final against Inter Milan, and it has long been believed that German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have a keen interest in him. However, with pre season preparations ramping up for all Premier League teams, Guardiola has now gone on record as stating that he is not willing to let the player go prior to the closure of the summer window, without a fight, but he did concede the future was currently unknown.

“We will fight for him, like I’m pretty sure Bayern will. I don’t know how it is going to finish.”

At the time of writing, City are actually preparing for a friendly against Bayern at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo (today) and Guardiola revealed that the player would be involved in the game as he continues his own personal fitness and sharpness preparations for the year ahead.

“He is an incredibly important player for us. He has very specific qualities that are so difficult to find worldwide. His specific qualities are irreplaceable. We want him here but at the end I don’t know what is going to happen. We need our best players out there against Bayern and we hope he is going to stay with us next season, so why should he not play?”

As an all action full back, Walker’s heyday in that sense may well be coming to an end, but there is plenty left in his legs yet given his knowledge of the game and the improvements he has made in recent years, so unless City get a ridiculous offer for his services, I cannot see him going anywhere yet.