England international and Man City star, Kyle Walker, may be on the wrong side of 30 now, but he remains the consummate right-back who is adept at getting forward to support his attackers as well as having the fitness and skill to play his defensive role to perfection.
He will surely have been a bit put out by his manager, Pep Guardiola’s recent comments.
According to ESPN, the Catalan recently told reporters there was one area of play that had completely foxed the right-back.
“He will always have pace; Kyle at 60 years old will be the fastest player in this room. To play inside you have to have educated movements — he doesn’t have every one of the characteristics,” Guardiola had said, concerning a new system he was trying to implement.
“He has played as a full back coming inside in the past with four at the back. He has done really well but this shape of three at the back and two in the middle, he cannot do it.”
Such a stinging rebuke delivered in public is very tough to take for any professional and it seems that Walker has made a decision on his future despite that.
According to the Daily Star, the 32-year-old still wants see out the remaining year of his contract at his Etihad Stadium.
Given that he might not get too many chances to play if Guardiola decides to stick with what has appeared to become a favoured system, it’s a brave decision indeed.
It would also appear to be a sensible one. According to Spotrac, he will be earning £160,000 per week next season, and it’s debatable that any other club would be willing to pay that sort of money for a player that will turn 33 at the end of May.