It has been reported that if Kyle Walker joins Bayern Munich, Manchester City have no intention to sign a replacement for him.
This comes from The Athletic journalist Sam Lee, after it was claimed on Tuesday that City had discussions with Thomas Tuchel’s side over the £50 million (Guardian) man’s potential sale during pre-season in Japan, without finalising an agreement.
Now, it seems like even if Kyle Walker does end up signing for Bayern Munich, Manchester City are content with their current options at right-back in the squad.
Sam Lee: Manchester City will not sign a replacement for Bayern Munich-bound Kyle Walker
Branded as ‘irreplaceable’ by Pep Guardiola last Tuesday, he also added that he was ‘pretty sure’ that the Bundesliga champions would inevitably sign the Englishman.
Despite Walker not being at the forefront of things for the treble-winner last season, his incredible displays to tame Vinicius Jr. in both legs against Real Madrid in the Champions League exemplified his invaluableness to his side.
However, it has been revealed that if Kyle Walker becomes a Bayern player, Manchester City are ‘happy’ to trust John Stones, Rico Lewis and Manuel Akanji as their right-backs heading into next season.
The English giants would rather put their full faith in the tried-and-tested trio than ‘rush’ to sign an unsuitable replacement.
It would be risky not to sign a Kyle Walker replacement
While Kyle Walker is one of one in terms of what he brings to Manchester City, for the club not to even try to bring in a replacement for him if he joins Bayern is a risk to say the least.
Even if the plan was to bring in yet another ball-playing centre-back who is adept at defending in wide areas, that would be a smart succession plan for now.
While Manuel Akanji is ace and perhaps the best option, he is not the best pure defender, with John Stones being at his best defending in the box and Rico Lewis still not being defensively ready to replace the veteran, which makes their current options far from perfect.
