Kyle Walker is poised to complete his heavily trailed move from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester City, after the clubs agreed a fee of £50m. Pep Guardiola, the City manager, has made the signing of full-backs a priority this summer and Walker has always been his No1 target at right-back.
The negotiations have been protracted, with the Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, having held out for £50m. Levy has been in a strong position. Walker was the best right-back in England last season, according to the Professional Footballers’ Association, which named him in its team of the year, and, at 27, he is not only highly experienced in the Premier League but about to enter his prime.
After missing out on Dani Alves, another right-back target, City have decided to met Levy’s demands. They had previously been reluctant to go above £40m. Alves went to Paris St-Germain this week, having left Juventus as a free agent.
Mauricio Pochettino knows that he needs to generate funds to bolster the depth of his Tottenham squad and he came to consider the sale of Walker as the best way to do so. The manager has faith in Kieran Trippier, who has been Walker’s understudy, and it was significant that he preferred Trippier to him towards the end of last season in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea and the league fixtures against Arsenal and Manchester United.
(Guardian service)
