The Manchester City headline on Saturday was not their utter destruction of fourth tier side Salford City in the FA Cup third round. The 8-0 score line, while eye-popping, is not unexpected. The true lead is manager Pep Guardiola admitting that right back Kyle Walker is trying to leave the club.
“It’s not easy for me to say because I should tell him, but he’s not here, so two days ago Kyle asked to explore the options to play abroad at the end of his career,” Guardiola said to his postgame press conference today.
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Kick-off time: 7:30 PM GMT, 14th January 2025, Gtech Community Stadium
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“He’s been our right-back, giving us something we didn’t have, but now in his mind he would like to explore to go to another country to play his last years for many reasons. For that reason, I prefer to play other players whose mind is here. He went to (Club Director) Txiki (Begiristain).
“He asked to explore, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen because you never know the situation.”
Walker, who has lost his starting place this season, has asked for a move abroad. Bayern Munich offered him a two year deal in 2023, but he ultimately elected to stay.
“He asked [to leave] two years ago after the treble,” Guardiola added on the topic.
“Bayern wanted him but the offer was not good enough and the club [told] him how important he is. We cannot understand the success we had these years without Kyle. It’s impossible.”
Don’t expect Kyle Walker to feature on Tuesday night at Brentford; nor in any of the other immediately upcoming matches, either.
Elsewhere Pep gave an update yesterday on Oscar Bobb, who is seemingly making good progress on his recovery from the foot fracture he suffered. The timeline for his return could be moving up.
‘He’s training already with the team, partially. It’s good news for us… I don’t know [when he will be back], but it’s not muscular. It was a bone, a fracture, and one that is already fixed, so it’s fine. Now it’s [his] physical condition.’
Guardiola also gave an update Friday night on Ruben Dias:
“Not yet. He feels better but not ready. I don’t know when.”
The stellar defender should be back in a week or two.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.