Pep Guardiola is yet to decide if Kyle Walker will play for Manchester City again following the captain’s request to “explore the option” of playing abroad.
The 34-year-old was left out of the match-day squad for Saturday’s 8-0 FA Cup third round defeat of Salford City after informing the club on Thursday of his wish to depart.
Milan are interested in signing the defender and Guardiola was asked if he will continue to leave out Walker while his future is in the balance. City’s next game is at Brentford on Tuesday.
“I don’t know. It depends on how we are going to train [players perform in training],” said the manager. “It depends on him. The transfer window will finish when it finishes [at the end of the month] and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I said to him: ‘Now it’s a question of the market.’”
Guardiola believes Walker could continue his career for another four years. “He is an incredible player with incredible physicality,” he said. “When he is focused he is unstoppable as a right-back. He’s a top class player, if he is fit, he can play one, two, three or four more years as a professional.
“I never saw a player with these physical conditions in my career. [But] if he wants to explore [options], he has to decide, not me. It’s not my decision.”
Nathan Aké has said Manchester City will “massively” miss Kyle Walker if he leaves in the winter window.
Aké was asked if Walker’s leadership would be a loss. “Massively. He’s a big player for us, a big character,” the Dutchman said. “He is a good guy as well, I’m very good [friends] with him. Let’s see what happens. There’s no doubt he’s been a massive player for us.”
Since joining from Tottenham in July 2017 for £45m, Walker has won six Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups, four League Cups, the Uefa Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
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“He’s massive for us over the years,” Aké said. “This year as well, a big character in the squad. He deserves a lot of praise for all the years he’s been a top player for this club.”
City’s victory over Salford included a goal from the 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly, who played as a left-sided defender, plus a hat-trick from the attacking midfielder James McAtee, who is 22. Divin Mubama, a 20-year-old forward signed from West Ham in August, also scored. Rico Lewis, 20, an unused substitute, has recently become the first-choice right-back ahead of Walker. Aké pointed to these players as an indication that Guardiola is bedding in the next generation at City.
“We’ve got a good mix of young players,” he said. “You see [against Salford] there’s many young players. We’ve got older ones, too so at the moment there’s a good mix and the club has always been good at finding the right balance between ages. I’m sure they’ll continue to do that.”
