Manchester City have one of the oldest squads in the Premier League currently.
The City roster at Pep Guardiola’s disposal has an average age of 26.9 — making them the fourth oldest squad in the entirety of the English top-flight and the oldest amongst the ‘Big Six’ clubs.
Considering how proficient Manchester City have been at building their squad to perform in the present and the future over the years, it is a surprise that the club have not prioritised having a more youthful group of players.
| AVERAGE AGE FOR PREMIER LEAGUE’S BIG SIX | |
| TEAM | AVERAGE AGE |
| CHELSEA | 23.4 |
| TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | 24.7 |
| ARSENAL | 25.6 |
| MANCHESTER UNITED | 26 |
| LIVERPOOL | 26.5 |
| MANCHESTER CITY | 26.9 |
The Premier League champions’ title rivals in Arsenal (25.6) and Liverpool (26.5) have youngster squads in comparison.
Manchester City’s oldest starting players are Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan — who both turned 34 this year.
City’s decision to sign Gundogan indicated that they had no concerns over his age due to how fit and in-form he was at Barcelona.
But the same cannot be said about Walker, who has struggled in both regards and is particularly showing his age with his displays this season. In the last two seasons, the Englishman has missed several games through injury — with Pep Guardiola claiming Kyle Walker had barely trained this campaign due to his injury ahead of Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat against AFC Bournemouth.
Man City’s sale of Pedro Porro was a mistake as he was the ideal Kyle Walker replacement
In terms of Walker’s form as well, it would not be a stretch to claim that he has been the Sky Blues’ biggest underperformer since the 2023/2024 season.
The veteran has made plenty of mistakes this campaign alone — failing to close Kaoru Mitoma down as he crossed in the ball that led to Joao Pedro’s equaliser against Brighton, letting Gabriel Magalhaes bypass him during a set-piece to net the leveller for Arsenal in their 2-2 draw against City as well as slicing a routine clearance that gifted Tom Ince a consolation goal against Brighton.
Last Saturday, it was reported that Manchester City are interest in signing Pedro Porro — with Tottenham Hotspur demanding a whopping £80 million fee to sell him.
A comparison of Porro and Walker’s statistics showcase why the former would be an upgrade on the latter.
| PER 90 COMPARISON OVER THE PAST 365 DAYS | ||
| STAT | WALKER | PORRO |
| TACKLES | 1.36 | 2.3 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | 1 | 1.31 |
| PROGRESSIVE PASSES | 5.17 | 5.98 |
| ASSISTS | 0.11 | 0.21 |
| NON-PENALTY GOALS | 0 | 0.11 |
However, Manchester City made a mistake in the first place by selling the Spanish international to Ruben Amorim’s Sporting CP side in 2022 as he was thriving on loan in Portugal — despite Walker being past 30.
It was reported by Manchester Evening News that there was a buyback clause in the 25-year-old’s contract that allowed City to re-sign him for £16.8 million — which would have been a bargain for one of Europe’s best up-and-coming right-backs.
Instead, City let Tottenham Hotspur sign Porro and handed Walker a brand-new contract in the summer of 2023 until 2026.
Previously, Manchester City have been particularly brilliant at moving their ageing assets on such as Fernandinho and Yaya Toure in the past by incorporating Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne respectively as top-class successors to their throne.
However, in July, Rico Lewis admitted he sees himself as a midfielder and with minimal experience as a starter in senior football, he is yet to fully convince that he is the rightful heir to the Manchester City captain’s throne — despite being an excellent young player.
Porro, on other hand played three years of first-team football at Real Valladolid and Sporting by the time he was sold by the Sky Blues as a 22-year-old.
If Manchester City were to right their wrongs by paying £80 million to secure the Spurs defender’s services, the decision-makers at the Etihad Stadium would regret paying £63.2 million more than the fee they could have signed him for.
Man City are reportedly ready to sell Walker in the summer
It was revealed in October that Manchester City are willing to offload Walker for £15 million in the summer, with Al-Ahli keen on securing his services.
The Sky Blues are not expected to offer the decorated speedster a contract extension, with new round of talks not scheduled to occur.
The report also claimed that Walker could earn a hefty £400,000-a-week in wages if he reunited with Riyad Mahrez to play for the Saudi Pro League side.
It seems like Manchester City believe that the six-time Premier League winner is past his best.
However, Walker’s decline could well have not been witnessed by City supporters if he was adequately replaced by Porro.
The Premier League champions will surely learn from their error as elite clubs tend to always have a knack of knowing when to sell their ageing players.
