Manchester City have been linked with a sensational swoop for high-flying Tottenham Hotspur right-back Kyle Walker.
Walker, along with Rose, has seen a terrific resurgence in form under Mauricio Pochettino and is currently on the radar of a number of clubs. Both were criticised a couple of seasons back and it is a wonder as to how much they have improved off late.
Considered as the best full-back pair in England, the arrival of Pochettino and the valuable time with the manager has transformed them. While they always boasted of exhilarating pace, the required finesse and armoury to make use of it was missing. The potential was waiting to be tapped and thankfully for Spurs and English football, these two seem to have sorted it out at the ripe age of 26.
And now the envious glances of Manchester United and Manchester City towards their two prized assets bears testimony to the fact how Tottenham Hotspur have pipped them in that department. Both the Manchester clubs have failed to nurture players in that position and are now prepared to generate heavy profits for the Lilywhites if any one of them manage to win the race.
Walker and Rose, both 26, are among the ranks of Spurs stars to have put pen to paper on new White Hart Lane contracts in the recent past. That, according to the Sun, means either United or City “would need to pay in excess of £30 million per player to even tempt Tottenham.”
Walker joined boyhood club Sheffield United at the age of seven after being recommended by Football Unites, Racism Divides and progressed through the ranks to become a regular fixture in the reserves by 2008. He went on loan to Northampton Town before joining back with his parent club in a month’s time.
On 22 July 2009, Walker left Sheffield United to join Tottenham Hotspur along with fellow defender Kyle Naughton for a combined fee of £9m, but was loaned back to the Yorkshire club for the duration of the 2009–10 season as part of the deal. He had further loan spells at QPR and Aston Villa before finally breaking into the first team at Spurs.
Manchester City have Pablo Zabaleta and Bacary Sagna as options at right-back at this moment. Sagna is out of contract in the summer and with the club showing no urgency to open any contract negotiations, it seems the Frenchman might have run his course at the Etihad Stadium. Similarly, Zabaleta, who has been one of the most passionate and loyal servants to the club, has his own cult following inside the club. But with age against him, his influence and impact on a consistent basis are running out.
Walker would be an ideal candidate and an upgrade on both of them if the current scenario is taken into consideration.
But whether Tottenham Hotspur sells at this crucial juncture in their club history is something that is debatable but a huge bid from the Sky Blues might get them thinking.
