Alan Shearer has been talking about how important Kyle Walker is for Manchester City.
The 33-year-old has started all 19 of City’s Premier League games this season, completing the full 90 minutes in all but one of them.
Having donned the captain’s armband for most of the season, Walker has now been praised by one pundit who has shared his insight into how significant the full-back is for the Citizens.
Shearer hails ‘integral’ Walker
Speaking in a recent episode of The Rest Is Football, Shearer had this to say about Walker.
He said: “I think for everything that City do, he’s integral because of the way they play. Micah [Richards] said the full-back role has changed a little bit, he is still key to defending. John Stones does most of the getting into midfield bit rather than Kyle Walker so his role hasn’t changed that much.”
City signed the defender back in 2017 from Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth £50m. Since then, the Englishman has made 281 appearances for the Manchester club across all competitions, chipping in with six goals and 20 assists along the way.
Taking into account how Walker has racked up more minutes in the Premier League this season than any other City player, it’s clear that Pep Guardiola sees the England international as a crucial figure in his team.
Across his 19 league appearances this season, the veteran has made more recoveries (103) than any other City defender and has a higher combined total of tackles and interceptions (36) than any of his defensive teammates apart from Josko Gvardiol (40).
With the defender having to be convinced by Guardiola to stay at the Etihad Stadium during the previous summer transfer window after verbally agreeing to join Bayern Munich, it’s safe to say that this ended up being a massive boost for City.
