Walker set to undergo medical at City ahead of £50m move
England full-back Kyle Walker is set for a £50 million (Dh236m) move to Manchester City from Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, according to British media reports yesterday.
The BBC and British Press Association reported Walker, 27, who moved along with Kyle Naughton to Spurs from Sheffield United in 2009 for a combined total of £9m, is expected to undergo a medical with City today and go with them on their pre-season tour of the United States on Monday.
The England international with 27 caps has made more than 180 Premier League appearances for Spurs but fell out of favour with manager Mauricio Pochettino last season with Kieran Trippier progressively taking over. England’s Professional Footballers Association had named Walker as the best right-back last season.
Walker would be a rather more expensive acquisition than Brazilian defender Dani Alves, who angered City manager Pep Guardiola in preferring a move from Juventus to French giants Paris Saint-Germain over a reunion with his former Barcelona manager.
According to the British media, Guardiola is also keen on raiding French champions Monaco for a second time this summer and is prepared to pay £40m for left-back Benjamin Mendy.
Guardiola has prised Portuguese winger Bernardo Silva away from Monaco for £42m. The club’s other significant piece of transfer business was the £35m paid to Benfica for goalkeeper Ederson.
It was also announced yesterday that City and Manchester United will wear shirts featuring their city’s “worker bee” symbol when they meet in the United States next week.
The two clubs are due to meet in a friendly in the pre-season International Champions Cup in Houston on July 20.
The gesture commemorates the Manchester terrorist attack in May, after which both clubs came together to pledge £1 million to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.
The fund was set up to help the families of the 22 people who died in the atrocity and the 64 who were injured.
The shirts will also be auctioned off for the fund after the match.
The worker bee symbolises the industrial heritage of Manchester and was adopted as the city’s coat of arms in 1842.
City chief executive Ferran Soriano said: “Manchester continues to show great strength and sense of community since May’s devastating attack and the thoughts of everyone at Manchester City remain with those affected.”