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Recency bias could wildly skew overall perceptions of Kyle Walker’s glittering eight years at Manchester City. He was the captain who upped and left midway through last season, when the chips were down and criticism of his own performances was plentiful.
In his final game for the club, Walker refused to take the armband when entering as a substitute. It did not end well and, from a footballing perspective, that is an eternal shame. The veteran is expecting a low-key return to the Etihad Stadium with Burnley on Saturday.
The second campaign of Walker’s captaincy could not have gone any worse yet his first is perhaps somewhat underrated. There was something the veteran instigated in the hours after City had dramatically lost on penalties against Real Madrid in a Champions League quarter-final which some sources believe helped them power on to an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title.
The morning after the Real defeat, Walker took four other members of the captaincy group – Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Rodri – in to see Pep Guardiola. In that meeting, the players made clear their feelings after the heartache of the night before.
Despite fatigue kicking in, management were to take the word of their players if they declared themselves ready to play any of the games during the run-in. And Guardiola was asked not to let up in training, to push them to their physical limits.
City won all six of their remaining Premier League matches that season and pipped Arsenal to the crown by two points.
Kyle Walker leads the celebrations as Manchester City celebrate winning the Premier League title in May 2024
By January 2025, though, Walker had jumped ship and joined AC Milan on loan
For that alone, Guardiola’s decision to convince Walker to stay amid concrete interest from Bayern Munich following the 2023 Treble proved a masterstroke.
City could not have coped with another old head leaving alongside Ilkay Gundogan and Walker manfully took on the additional responsibility. Courted it, even.
It’s easily forgotten in this perpetual myth of City steamrolling every season but Guardiola needed a strong captain that year when they floundered before the Club World Cup.
The silly parlour games and team bonding organised by Walker over Christmas certainly helped and he is said to have led the team with excellence. ‘A commanding voice in the dressing room,’ one source said at the time.
That undoubtedly changed during his final six months as a City player; Guardiola said as much before their reunion. Walker now admits that he shouldn’t have left for AC Milan in January in the midst of a horror run. ‘I should have dug it out with the lads,’ he says. ‘I should’ve stood next to my team-mates, my friends and people I class as my family. But for the first time in my career I was selfish.’
Around 150 staff turned up for his goodbye in the canteen; Walker visited the team in Florida during their summer at the Club World Cup, attending the win over Juventus.
Walker’s obsession with becoming the second black player after Ashley Cole to reach 100 England caps was the main contributing factor to leaving and maybe Milan wasn’t quite right in that respect.
He’s on 96 and raising the bat under Thomas Tuchel feels like a big ask, although Burnley have been impressed so far – the coaching staff believing Walker was the best player on the pitch during last weekend’s draw with Nottingham Forest.
Walker is on 96 England caps and believes he has unfinished business with the national team
The full back is in fine form for Burnley where he is helping to set standards on and off the pitch
The 35-year-old insists that only striker Lyle Foster is faster than him, in a metric that has always defined his playing style.
He was au fait with the Clarets well before finalising a deal worth up to £5million, a regular at the training ground over the last two years to watch his son, Roman, 14, feature for the academy. Security staff used to let him nip into the players’ car park.
Although given the night off on Tuesday, Walker was around the team when they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Cardiff City and it was noticeable how he tried to spread positivity despite the result. Ellis Clark, who earned a professional debut off the bench, was afforded a pep talk.
‘We’re not fawning over Kyle,’ one source says. Burnley staff remark how his driving of standards has seen some lengthy conversations with the club’s nutritionists and chefs. ‘It’s like he’s been here years, he’s utilising his experience to try to push us forward.’
He wants to carry that on for some time yet, with backroom staff at City having previously claimed that he ‘defied sports science’ as he constantly backed his physique in a way that saw him bait the best wingers in Europe.
Walker is arguably the best right back in Premier League history - and in the conversation with some of the all-time greats.
Cafu and Javier Zanetti were offered up as comparisons to Guardiola, who replied: ‘Absolutely. One of the greatest full backs ever. I slept like a baby before games with Kyle there. We always tried to help him with the ball, to read situations, and he was a better player than maybe he thought. The last season was tough for him, for everyone, but I don’t judge one behaviour for a short period of time.’
City are not thought to be planning any grand return for Walker. Do something beforehand and Walker pockets a winger then it looks a little embarrassing. There probably isn’t an available result that allows for a moment after full time.
Walker cuts out a cross by Liverpool's Milos Kerkez. The 35-year-old insists that at Burnley only striker Lyle Foster is faster than him
Pep Guardiola says he always slept well knowing that Walker was in his team the next day
The multitude of indiscretions and front-page scandals have dominated the autumn of Walker’s career, although the impact he has had on City and the league generally is phenomenal.
Guardiola couldn’t play the way he wanted to without Walker - his pace quietly mopping up countless dangerous situations over the years - and the respect he has among his peers is something that he will take with him as a legacy.
Only a few days before meeting in Saturday’s fixture, City’s players invited him along to Mediterranean restaurant Fenix for Manuel Akanji’s leaving meal earlier in the week and those close to Walker say he’s often approached by stars from elsewhere when on holiday. ‘There is always this aura about Kyle with other players,’ one source says.
‘It’s the same wherever he is, like “Wow, he’s the best there is”. They play Real and it’s Vinicius Junior or Kylian Mbappe who want his shirt. It’s always the best player who asks for his shirt. The respect for him from people inside the game is insane.’
