Gary Neville has said that Kyle Walker is the best full-back in the world in terms of being able to defend in one-on-one situations.
The right-back recently secured his fifth Premier League title since arriving at Manchester City back in 2017 from Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth an overall reported fee of £50m.
As one of the most decorated English players in the Premier League right now, the 33-year-old has found himself being compared with another highly decorated English full-back who knows what it’s like playing and winning trophies in Manchester.
Neville hails Walker
Speaking in a recent video on The Overlap YouTube channel where he, alongside Jill Scott, Roy Keane and Micah Richards were coming up with a combined all-time starting XI between City and Manchester United, Neville said this about Walker, in particular.
He said: “I like Kyle a lot. Man-to-man there’s no one better. I would read a game better than Kyle, I coached Kyle for a few years, I read the game better than Kyle.
“He’s a lot quicker, distribution I wouldn’t say there’s much in it, maybe I had a better cross on me towards the end.”
Having played in 37 games for Pep Guardiola’s side across all competitions this season, the England international has been deployed in the right-back and centre-back positions, highlighting how useful his versatility is for the team.
To further highlight his defensive skills, Manuel Akanji (136) ended up being the only City defender than made more recoveries in the league this season than the England international (124).
Walker also found himself on the end of some heavy praise for his defensive display against Real Madrid coming up against Vinicius Junior last month, which backs up Neville’s praise for the full-back specifically regarding his ability to defend in one-on-one scenarios.
With all of that in mind, it’s easy to see why Neville has shared his praise for the City star and why he’s been mentioned in the conversation as one of the best full-backs that have played for both Manchester clubs.
