Not many people cross Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
Once you have, it’s difficult to get in his good books again, usually spelling the end of your relationship with Manchester City and your current position.
And now, that appears to be happening once more at the Etihad Stadium.
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Joao Cancelo saw his Manchester City career shredded within days, as he left midway through their Treble-winning season to join Bayern Munich on loan – and when he returned to play the Citizens in the Champions League, he was booed by his own fans.
Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic also fell out with the Spaniard, both while at Barcelona, and their respective relationships with their former mentor remain frosty to this day.
The latest player to get on the wrong side of Guardiola appears to be Kyle Walker. The right-back made it clear he wanted to leave Manchester in January and his move to Milan was intended to be permanent, with the loan being turned into a transfer this summer.
That hasn’t materialised and he is now on the hunt for a new club with Football Insider journalist Pete O’Rourke saying his time at Man City is “all but done.”
He said: “It’s pretty certain there’s no way back at Man City.
“Obviously, he upset Guardiola by asking for that move in January to AC Milan. He went to Milan and the expectation was that he would make that loan deal permanent, but it ended in disappointment for Walker and for Milan.
“Heading into pre-season it looks like he will return to Manchester City. He’s in the final year of his contract and not in Pep Guardiola’s plans, it seems inevitable he will move on. Some Premier League clubs will look at it because he offers great experience.
“The player himself has had that taste of playing abroad and that’s something he could be interested in doing again long-term rather than on loan. There’ll be a lot of clubs looking at Kyle Walker and he won’t be short of offers.”
At 35-years-old, Walker has done remarkably well to stay at the top of the game for so long. His biggest asset is speed, and being able to rely on that considerably until recently has allowed him to continue what has been a very successful career.
Walker is ranked at No.5 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best Premier League defenders of all time and will no doubt have a long list of suitors across the continent this summer.
He doesn’t look to be the only Manchester City player on his way out with up to seven lined up for a move according to the Football Insider report, including record buy Jack Grealish.
