Kyle Walker credits Man City signings for his form under Guardiola

Kyle Walker is spurred on to maintain his performance levels for Manchester City by the fear of being ousted from the team.

City attracted derision and criticism in the game when they paid £50m to sign the full-back from Tottenham in 2017, but many eggs have been left on many faces as the 32-year-old became one of the biggest bargains of the Pep Guardiola era.

Walker has played an instrumental role in three Premier League titles, providing more value for money with every appearance that he makes for the Blues. Since he joined the club, only Ederson has made more starts under Guardiola.

The England international has been one of the few that did not suffer a dip in form after returning from Euro 2020, and has 21 starts in all competitions for his club this season. Despite competition from first Danilo and then Joao Cancelo, Walker has managed to hold on to the right-back spot.

“There is nothing more that I like doing than going out onto the pitch and playing football. Keeping the standards is hard and you have to make sure you prepare, look after yourself and do the work off the field, not just on the field,” he said.

“It is a credit to myself if I do say so with the amount of players the recruitment team have brought in with Danilo being the right-back, then Joao who has come in. Making sure the manager can trust me and depend on me, I have to take praise for that. But I am not taking my foot off the gas because I feel that I am 32 this year, but I still feel young, fresh and eager to learn as well.”

While Walker is winning the war to keep his place in the team, he hasn’t won every battle. Danilo replaced him for a spell in the 2018/19 season including the title-deciding 2-1 victory over Liverpool at the Etihad, while Cancelo took over the position at the beginning of 2021 including the 4-1 victory at Anfield.

However, on each occasion the former Spurs defender has reflected on and risen to the challenge of being taken out of the side. If he knew that his place wasn’t under threat, Walker doesn’t think that he would perform as well as he has done over so many years in his career.

“Would I like to sit here and be the only right-back, so I know that I am playing game in game out even if I have a bad training session? Of course, I would,” he said.

“But do I feel that I would have reached the standards or levels that I have achieved throughout my career [without it]? I signed at Tottenham with six right-backs in front of me and I had to go to various places on loan before I earned the trust of Harry Redknapp to play at Tottenham.

“Would I or anyone else have achieved the heights we have achieved at City if they didn’t have people nipping at their heels, wanting their shirt, I don’t think we would. I think competition is good and it keeps everyone on their toes.”