Tottenham Hotspur have agreed to sell right-back Kyle Walker to Manchester City for a fee of £50 million, according to ESPN FC. The defender will then, according to the report, undergo his medical tomorrow, and then fly out to the United States to join the rest of his new teammates.
By the time the ink is dry, the Ts crossed and the Is dotted on this deal, Kyle Walker would become the world’s most expensive defender and the costliest English player of all time.
The Guardian is also reporting this development, pointing out that the “package includes £3m of add-ons and takes Walker beyond David Luiz on the list of defenders and above Raheem Sterling in terms of players from England.”
City brought Sterling over from Liverpool for £49m in 2015, ending a very ugly, protracted holdout that summer. Paris Saint-Germain purchased Luiz for £50m in 2014.
City are part of the International Champions Cup, a preseason friendly “tournament,” and they’ll play three matches in the United States. The first comes a week from today, a Manchester derby in Houston Texas. City will also take on Real Madrid at the L.A. Coliseum on the 26th and then Tottenham Hotspur, which should be very interesting for Kyle Walker, on the 29th in Nashville.
If the price paid for Walker seems high, and it should given that he wasn’t always a first-teamer down the stretch for Spurs last season, remember that
a.) almost all transfer deals will be more expensive than you would think this summer transfer window and
b.) City are making a bit of a knee jerk reaction to their losing out on Dani Alves yesterday. It’s a panic buy as they released their two experienced right backs earlier this summer, and badly need to shore up the lack of experience at the position.
The Citizens thought they were in pole position with Alves, ready to sign him on a free transfer, until PSG swooped in and reportedly doubled the salary offer made by The Etihad.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.