da bet7k： According to reports from Manchester Evening News, Manchester City have been encouraged that they’ll be successful in a summer transfer swoop for Tottenham Hotspur defender Kyle Walker.
What’s the word?
da imperador bet： Having apparently been keen on him last summer, Manchester City are ready to go again for Walker in the coming transfer window as Pep Guardiola looks to revamp his Citizens squad with a core of English talent – something the 26-year-old would obviously fit into.
Whereas Walker, who is valued at £17m by transfermarkt.com, appeared to be off limits in summer 2016, the Citizens seemingly believe they’ll have much better luck this time around, with the right-back’s future at White Hart Lane a little murkier than his place in the PFA Team of the Season might initially suggest.
Why would Spurs sell?
He may be widely rated as one of the best attacking full-backs in Europe at the moment, at least based on 2016/17 form, but not everybody in north London is convinced by Walker – especially the Lilywhites fan base, as shown above in our recent poll.
Mauricio Pochettino has already hinted the club might decide to cash in on one or two big names this summer – at their own discretion – and The Independent are pretty convinced Walker could get the chop, claiming the defender sees his future elsewhere and wants to leave following a bust-up with the Spurs gaffer, who believes he isn’t fit enough to play two big games in a week. Rather tellingly, Walker didn’t start against Chelsea in the FA Cup or the north London derby with Arsenal last weekend.
Furthermore, Tottenham already have a ready-made replacement in Walker’s understudy Kieran Trippier, who has impressed when called upon since signing from Burnley in summer 2015.
How much would he cost?
Make no mistake about it, Tottenham won’t be letting Walker leave on the cheap. His contract still has four years left to run after signing a new deal at the start of the season and no Premier League chairman knows how to drive up (or down) a transfer fee quite like Daniel Levy – a shrewd and fierce operator who has made a point of not selling to Tottenham’s Premier League rivals in recent years, which now includes Manchester City.
The Independent believe Walker will set City back somewhere in the region of £35million-£50million, whilst Manchester Evening News claim Guardiola is already prepared for the fact he’ll likely have to set a new world-record transfer fee for a full-back (perhaps even twice) this summer.
Is he worth it?
That kind of money may have seemed implausible for Walker a few years ago, but City will struggle to find another right-back with the same attacking verve and Premier League experience as the Three Lions man, who has nearly 200 top flight appearances under his belt already.
He’s notched up the most assists of any Premier League defender this season and City desperately need that kind of dynamism and flair from their defensive flanks. Full-backs have become so vital to how teams play in the modern game, often epitomising a manager’s philosophy through their balance between attack and defence, and City have seriously struggled at times this season because of Guardiola’s ageing options on both sides – namely Bacary Sagna, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy.
It’s the largest piece missing from Guardiola’s City jigsaw and although strikers and attacking midfielders tend to be the biggest draws in the transfer market, this summer could well see full-backs take precedent across Europe – so the Citizens will have to pay big for the right men to make sure they’re at the front of the queue. Walker may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but there are few better options on the market.