Right-back walking all over £60m man

THE second most expensive player in City’s history has spent this season losing his battle for a regular place in the team.

And Joao Cancelo needs to heed the veiled warnings which Pep Guardiola has been sending his way if he intends to remain at the club beyond the summer.

The Portugal right-back, perhaps, thought that the £60m price tag he wore when he arrived from Juventus last summer would ensure him top spot in the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium.

But Kyle Walker has already seen off Danilo, who failed to nail down a place in the team, and is winning this duel as well.

That was made plain as Walker was picked for all the big games – top six clashes, important Champions League fixtures and both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final, plus the final – since November.

Cancelo stepped in for the Old Trafford derby last week, but that was simply because Pep Guardiola prioritised the second leg of the Champions League against Real Madrid, scheduled for next week but which will no longer take place.

There is some doubt over Cancelo’s future at the club, with reports that the player is unhappy at playing second fiddle after playing just seven league games this season.

Guardiola has made it plain that if he wants to play more games, he has to seize his chances when he gets them. Walker has responded to the challenge presented by Cancelo, just as he did in the last two seasons when Danilo was brought in as competition. The former Tottenham man has frustrated Pep Guardiola at times, not least in the first title season of his reign, when Walker had a meltdown in the 3-2 home defeat by Crystal Palace.

He was dropped in the aftermath of that one, a clear signal that he needed to be more consistent and more focussed defensively.

His powerful gallops down the right flank have been an important feature of City’s attacking game, but the player has, in the last couple of years, developed as a defender, too.

Plenty of fans remember that Walker did not cover himself in glory in Real Madrid’s goal in Spain, failing to clear after teammates had made a hash of the situation.

But the way he pushed up on Madrid’s tricky winger Vinicius, and, apart from the goal, negated his impact on the game, spoke of a player who does not simply rely on his pace.

Now Walker faces another test. He is perhaps the only member of Guardiola’s strongest XI who is not currently in his international squad.

The coronavirus crisis has thrown the schedule up in the air, but if the Champions League survives the clampdown, it represents a great opportunity for Walker to show just how he has upped his game.