With everything to play for in the final few games of the 2019/20 season, Man City manager, Pep Guardiola, is prepared to let bygones be bygones as far as Kyle Walker is concerned.
During the lockdown back in April, the right-back took the shocking decision to host a sex party with two escorts, and if that weren’t bad enough, he compounded his error by then visiting his parents in violation of the strict ‘stay at home’ rules in place at the time.
Despite his indiscretions, his subsequent apology appears to have put him back in Guardiola’s good books, and the manager won’t judge him on his off-field activities.
“I will judge my players by what happens on the pitch,” Guardiola is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
“I think Kyle made a brave statement about what happened in this period and the club spoke with him. What I want is the best for him, especially his family – his wife, kids, parents. That is what we want.
“The human being always goes first, then the football player and I think Kyle expressed his thought in his statement.”
Just four points separate City from third-placed Leicester City at present, and it’s a given that, even though City are unlikely to catch Liverpool unless the Reds suffer a collapse of truly epic proportions, Pep will want every player to give of his best in every game until the end of the campaign.
Walker remains one of his tried and trusted players, and to that end it’s easier to understand the manager’s conciliatory attitude.
Now Walker has to make sure he repays Pep on the pitch, and with the Champions League still in play for them this season, his capabilities down City’s right side could help them end 2019/20 successfully.