Walker’s £45m move to Manchester City

England full-back Kyle Walker has joined Manchester City from Tottenham in a deal worth an initial £45 million.

Press Association Sport understands Pep Guardiola’s side agreed a fee with Spurs for the 27-year-old which could rise to £50m if the add-on clauses are met.

Walker, who has signed a five-year deal at the Etihad Stadium, therefore becomes one of the most expensive defenders of all time.

Paris St-Germain broke the world record for a defender when they signed David Luiz for £50m in 2014, while City made £47.5m John Stones the most expensive Englishman of all time in that position two years later.

In announcing the signing, Walker’s agency, Base Soccer, claimed on Twitter their client commanded “a record fee for a defender and record fee for an English player”.

Whether Walker ever proves to be the costliest defender of all time or not, it is certainly a significant outlay from City and takes their summer spending well beyond the £100m mark after the capture of playmaker Bernardo Silva and goalkeeper Ederson.

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva did not feature in the club’s friendly at Wigan last night after Lazio made a £5 million bid to sign him.

The 30-year-old Brazilian is the club’s longest-serving current player having just marked a decade on Merseyside, but he is now considering his options.

Chelsea appear close to completing the transfer of Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco, with the French midfielder posting a photograph from the Premier League club’s training ground yesterday.

Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci has made a shock switch from Serie A champions Juventus to AC Milan for a reported £35 million.

Picture: Getty. Leonardo Bonucci has made a shock switch from Juventus to AC Milan.

Picture: PA. Kyle Walker has joined Manchester City in a deal which could be worth up to £50m.