I JOINED CITY TO BE A WINNER
says KYLE WALKER
KYLE WALKER has admitted he had to leave Tottenham to try to get his hands on some silverware.
But the Manchester City defender still has the London club in his heart and is aiming to leave his old fans smiling by dishing out some Carabao Cup misery to Arsenal.
City take on the Gunners in the final at Wembley on Sunday. And it will give Walker the chance to win a trophy for the first time in his career after eight barren years at White Hart Lane.
During that time, Tottenham lost in the final of the same cup to Chelsea, finished second to the Blues last season in the Premier League and blew a chance to win the title when Leicester lifted it in 2016.
Heartache
“I want to win stuff,” Walker told Sky Sports. “I hate losing and to be with Tottenham for the number of years I was and not pick up anything was disappointing.
“We were very close for two seasons, with Leicester and Chelsea, but we just fell short and I don’t want that to happen here at City.”
Losing the League Cup Final to Chelsea in 2015 was not Walker’s only Wembley heartache.
He also tasted defeat there with his boyhood club Sheffield United, when Burnley beat the Blades in the 2009 Championship play-off decider. “That was probably the worst defeat I have had at Wembley,” he added.
“Growing up with my boyhood club and getting beat by Burnley by a wonder goal, but if I hadn’t lost that game, would I be sat here now? I’m a big ® believer in fate and if that’s what the big man upstairs has got planned, you just dust yourself down and move on.
“It’d be emotional if we win. After 27 years of working hard to try to lift this kind of thing, hopefully I can do it.”
Despite leaving Spurs behind in the summer, making his £50m move to the Etihad, he still longs to get one over on his old club’s big rivals.
“Spurs is a club which belongs to my heart and to get one over on their bitter rivals, and mine for a long time, would be a fantastic feeling,” he said.
It was not just chasing silverware which made Walker leave for City, though, with the chance to work with former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola also too good to turn down.
He added: “Spurs gave me a chance to play Premier League football and I’ll be forever indebted to them.
“But it was something I needed to do for myself. The manager told me of his plans for the season and I wanted to be a part of it.
“Working under Pep Guardiola, a chance like that doesn’t come along too often. That’s no disrespect to Mauricio Pochettino, but the people that Pep has worked with grow as players.
“Tottenham were in a fantastic position when I left and people might ask why I left then and it was kind of a gamble, but it has paid off now.
“I gambled when I left QPR to go to Aston Villa halfway through the season when we were winning every Championship game – and that paid off.
“You just get a sense inside you and you have to go.”