Welcome Kyle Walker

[blues2win]

Bellerin wasn't available even to Barca. We'll be lucky to get Sanchez but we were never going to get Bellerin as well. Walker is the best available home grown right back. Is he a massive upgrade on Sagna or Zabaleta? You betcha.

[Mase]

So we've let the press know exactly how much we've paid and how it's broken down but they're still reporting it as £53+ million?! Not agenda then?

[Wooders]

I'm pretty happy with this - English (homegrown etc) - talented player in a position we were really weak in last season (navas!!) - also weakening a rival
However I am expecting spurs to unearth a great prospect for a bargain price

[Dameerto]

Walkers in tweet from the other year:

'Was u all there when city was no where to be seen#gloryfans'

Wanker. Hope it falls through because we have someone else in mind and he's left with no one interested and rots on the Spurs bench.

Id rather have Des Walker then this cunt, world record fee for a defender wtf

I'd rather have a Walker's crisp. And it would be a lot cheaper.

[City64]

Fuck me twitter has gone mental Spurs fans absolutely hate us I posted a little comment and have been trolled to fuck by fuckwit spurs fans ! oh well !

Did your comment include the words "feeder" and "club"?

Welcome to Manchester #proper

Went down a storm !

[Tim777]

This could well turn out to be an eventful Friday to calm some nerves.
Some movement in areas that need the most attention. Welcome indeed, Kyle!

I say the above because it seems that Google have jumped the gun a bit on Benjamin Mendy.
They already have him as a City player on his Google landing page....but what the heck, it's imminent

Right-back, left-back, hip-hip hooray!

[john@staustell]

Walkers in tweet from the other year:

'Was u all there when city was no where to be seen#gloryfans'

Wanker. Hope it falls through because we have someone else in mind and he's left with no one interested and rots on the Spurs bench.

Id rather have Des Walker then this cunt, world record fee for a defender wtf

Sigh

[Mase]

Has he apologised for that Tweet yet?

[CTID Hants]

Has he apologised for that Tweet yet?

No not yet, he's enjoying you get ya knickers in a twist over it

Tell the truth now, did you know such a tweet even existed before someone with an agenda dug it back up today?

[lovecity8utd]

Has he apologised for that Tweet yet?

No not yet, he's enjoying you get ya knickers in a twist over it

Tell the truth now, did you know such a tweet even existed before someone with an agenda dug it back up today?

Wonder what weasel words he has put forward in his welcome interview. Cant stand him.

[Mase]

Has he apologised for that Tweet yet?

No not yet, he's enjoying you get ya knickers in a twist over it

Tell the truth now, did you know such a tweet even existed before someone with an agenda dug it back up today?

100% mate. I tried searching for it a few days ago but couldn't find it myself.

I'm sure someone mentioned it as well as soon as we were linked with him.

[london blue 2]

It shouldn't bother me but I'm getting riled hearing that trippier is now better than walker. i mean where did that come from.

Rags can spend what they want but when we follow suit it's suddenly a problem and we get slated by all.

[CTID Hants]

Has he apologised for that Tweet yet?

No not yet, he's enjoying you get ya knickers in a twist over it

Tell the truth now, did you know such a tweet even existed before someone with an agenda dug it back up today?

100% mate. I tried searching for it a few days ago but couldn't find it myself.

I'm sure someone mentioned it as well as soon as we were linked with him.

Fair enough but the tweet is at least 4 years old (tweeted on his old account shut in 2013) and I doubt he even remembers it...... Until someone dug it out today.

Fuck me, I've only ever made 50 tweets and I'll be fucked if I knew what any of them were.

[Mase]

It shouldn't bother me but I'm getting riled hearing that trippier is now better than walker. i mean where did that come from.

Rags can spend what they want but when we follow suit it's suddenly a problem and we get slated by all.

That is annoying me as well. Walker is the second best right-back in the league behind Bellerin in my opinion.

A lad in work tried to say that Trippier was better than Walker this afternoon. I immediately shot him down letting him know I've watched Kieren since he was a young kid playing for Woodbank before he signed for City and he is no where near Walker (and I'm not a massive fan of Walker). His family are all sound (apart from being rags) and he's a good lad himself. But football wise he's not as good as Walker.

[Dubciteh]

It shouldn't bother me but I'm getting riled hearing that trippier is now better than walker. i mean where did that come from.

Rags can spend what they want but when we follow suit it's suddenly a problem and we get slated by all.

That is annoying me as well. Walker is the second best right-back in the league behind Bellerin in my opinion.

A lad in work tried to say that Trippier was better than Walker this afternoon. I immediately shot him down letting him know I've watched Kieren since he was a young kid playing for Woodbank before he signed for City and he is no where near Walker (and I'm not a massive fan of Walker). His family are all sound (apart from being rags) and he's a good lad himself. But football wise he's not as good as Walker.

Same here. Spurs fans and non city fans all saying this but in reality its bollocks. Pfa right back and played in all of spurs games except towards the end when it was clear he was off. Simple really.

[zuricity]

And pep let Zabba go ! don't forget that !!

[Beefymcfc]

It shouldn't bother me but I'm getting riled hearing that trippier is now better than walker. i mean where did that come from.

Rags can spend what they want but when we follow suit it's suddenly a problem and we get slated by all.

That is annoying me as well. Walker is the second best right-back in the league behind Bellerin in my opinion.

A lad in work tried to say that Trippier was better than Walker this afternoon. I immediately shot him down letting him know I've watched Kieren since he was a young kid playing for Woodbank before he signed for City and he is no where near Walker (and I'm not a massive fan of Walker). His family are all sound (apart from being rags) and he's a good lad himself. But football wise he's not as good as Walker.

It's a very childish thing, just like they said Ibe was better than Sterling.

[Grandad Rosler]

I'm fine with this. We are also just stuck with few options and being HG is a massive boost with Clichy gone. Get Bertrand in (get ready for 40m for him) and we can sell Delph.

Got to be asking at least 27 million for Delph given the prices we are seeing. England international home grown and all that

[phips]

Need to change the title to "welcome Kyle walker" !

why? he aint reading this forum.

[phips]

City offloaded five ageing, long-term servants since the end of the season - including full-backs Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta - along with Jesus Navas and 'keeper Willy Caballero.

Indeed, 31-year-old Clichy and 34-year-old Sagna were City's most used full-backs last term, yet the former Gunners never fully fitted Guardiola's style with the City boss experimenting with no fewer than seven different players in the wide, defensive roles.

So replacements and an injection of defensive youth were to be expected, but racing full-backs, or wing-backs, are almost as coveted as a defensive midfielder - and Walker's switch has broken the world record transfer fee for a defender.

The fee is inflated by his 'homegrown' status, as Guardiola seeks to satisfy the Premier League ruling that requires teams to have a minimum of eight 'homegrown players' in a 25-man squad - but big fees rarely deter Manchester clubs.

Previous Englishmen have struggled at the Etihad, including the likes of Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair and Fabian Delph - but Walker is more than a squad player to appease quotas.

The England international will almost certainly be a guaranteed starter next season and significantly increase City's already lethal attacking threat, while bolstering defensive weaknesses with athleticism to track back.

Guardiola's perfect start in England fell apart during October last year, primarily due to defensive and goalkeeping frailties. Those recurring stutters in form cost the Spaniard a genuine title challenge during the closing months.

However, with new keeper Ederson signed from Benfica for £34.9m in June and, potentially, one of the league's most formidable full-backs added to the ranks, Guardiola is setting his stall for a title-challenging second term.

Walker is far in front of his counterparts for attacking threat, dwarfing City's full-back stats for assists, crosses and corners, dribbles and chances created, while also surpassing them for duels won and tackles.

All four of City's most used full-backs only managed one assist between them while fulfilling the role during the entire campaign. In contrast, Walker racked up four from the flank and another from a central position.

In total, City's full-backs and deeper wide midfielders only registered seven assists, despite attacking primarily down the flanks - which suggests excessive dependence on the attacking wide midfielders.

Guardiola primarily used a 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1 formation last term and the graphic shows that Walker will occupy more prominent attacking positions, supporting and overlapping Raheem Sterling or new signing Bernardo Silva down the right flank.

Walker will also stretch opposition defences wider than achieved last season, which could also open pockets of space in and around the box for the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero.

City had a league-high 79 attempts on goal from corners last season but only scored five of those. For comparison, West Brom scored a league-high 16 goals from just 58.

However, Guardiola's men scored 14 goals from crosses - bettered only by Crystal Palace (20), Liverpool (19), West Brom (19) and Arsenal (18) - and Walker would undoubtedly boost this figure, in addition to creating space for attempts in central positions.

Out of the six full-backs, Zabaleta covered the greater distance on average with 10.88 km per 90 minutes. In fact, Walker recorded lower figures than all of City's full-backs, with the exception of Sagna.

These greater distances are likely to be a result of Guardiola's physical demands on the pitch and the 27-year-old will be expected to cover a greater distance in Manchester.

However, Walker surpassed all of City's full-backs last season for sprints per game and a top speed at 35.18 km/h - a league high for Premier League defenders.

Player Km per 90 Sprints per 90 Top speed km/h
Kyle Walker 10.44 67.03 35.18
Bacary Sagna 10.36 47.44 33.69
Gael Clichy 10.59 52.43 33.94
Pablo Zabaleta 10.88 60.17 31.93
Aleksandar Kolarov 10.77 51.34 33.39

It could be argued that Chelsea and Tottenham's wing-backs or full-backs separated the teams from City and the rest of the chasing pack last term.

Guardiola only used a three-at-the-back system in the Premier League on five occasions, but Leroy Sane and Sterling do not possess adequate defensive qualities.

Walker will provide Guardiola with a three-at-the back option - having played the wing-back role at Spurs.

Guardiola's defensive overhaul of youth and attacking intent could prove to be the difference if City are to dethrone Chelsea and win the title next season.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11679/10947248/what-will-kyle-walker-offer-manchester-city-we-check-the-stats