Manchester City have signed multiple players from fellow Premier League sides during Pep Guardiola’s reign in charge of the team.
Since taking the reins at the Etihad Stadium back in 2016, Guardiola has brought in players such as Jack Grealish, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes from numerous top-flight clubs.
Now that the 53-year-old has kicked off his ninth season in charge of City, one of the players he signed from another Premier League club has shed some light on the way in which he left his former team to join Guardiola’s side.
Kyle Walker sheds light on Tottenham Hotspur exit and Man City move
When asked how his exit from Tottenham Hotspur to join City panned out back in 2017, Kyle Walker had this to say in response during a recent edition of You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker.
He said: “I had a couple of good seasons towards the back end of it.
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“I kind of knew that [Mauricio] Pochettino’s mind was going in a different direction, that it was leaning more towards [Kieran] Trippier. But when I was playing, I was putting in the performances.
“So City spoke to my agent, seen that there was a little gap that they could probably persuade me to go.
“I went up to the manager. I know he’s written different stuff about me in his book, and he tells his version. But I went up to the manager and said, ‘I’m not in your plans, am I?’
“And he said, no. He’s going to push more for Trippier next season. So I said, ‘Please can I go?’ And he said, ‘Well, I won’t stand in your way.’
“That was it. There was no hard blood. There’s no bad feelings or anything. He was just honest and I respect him so much for that.
“But yeah, he just put it to bed. He was just like, you know what? That’s the direction he’s going to go in. Obviously, he said, go and speak with Daniel [Levy].
“I had to go and have a conversation with the chairman and say, ‘OK, Mr. Chairman I want to leave. Please can I leave? They’re willing to pay the money.’
“They thrashed the deal out. And that was it. It wasn’t as smooth sailing as I’d have liked it to have been.
“You know, there was a lot of this price, that price. But that’s probably a good businessman doing what he does and getting the most for the club, really.
“What probably people don’t understand is, I won’t say Daniel as such, but as a whole in chairmans, we are humans and we want to be happy.
“Now, I think our manager is unbelievable.
“If you come to him and say you want to leave, he doesn’t stand in your way. Go. Because I don’t want an unhappy player playing football for this club and playing for me. Because we’re not going to get the best out of each other. “
Walker has had a very successful time at City
Back in June, Jason Cundy said that Walker is the best right-back England has ever produced.
City paid Spurs £50m to sign the Englishman after he made 229 senior appearances for the North London club.
During his time with the Blues, the defender has made 301 appearances across all competitions, chipping in with six goals and 23 assists.
In addition to that, Walker has lifted numerous domestic and European trophies, captaining City to their historic fourth consecutive Premier League title last season.
This highlights just how prominent the full-back has been in the team since his arrival and how much success he’s had, showcasing how right he was to leave Spurs when he did.