With Aleix Vidal injured and Luis Enrique drawing up the list of potential replacements for him, FC Barcelona are finally looking to replace Dani Alves, who left to join Juventus at the start of the season. One of the players, who has been shortlisted by the management to replace him and fill the void is Tottenham Hotspur’s right-back, Kyle Walker.
The England International is enjoying one of his best seasons for the club and is supposedly being eyed by a number of big clubs. Reports suggest that it will take close to £60m to take the player away from the club. However, Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy does not have any intention of letting away his prized possession, after tying him up with £70k per week contract till 2020.
The right fullback has started 24 games so far in the Premier League for the London-based outfit, playing 13 short of 2100 minutes in the campaign so far. He has been a key part in Spurs’ challenge for the Premier League title, as they sit 10 points adrift of league leaders, Chelsea and 2 points behind second-placed Manchester City.
Walker has set up 5 goals for his team in the League so far, which is an excellent statistic, given he is a right back and he will improve the goal scoring chances of the Barcelona trio, Messi-Suarez-Neymar, given he signs for the Catalan giants next season. The right back has worked his way to the top through the ranks of Sheffield United youth system, before playing for Northampton Town, Queens Park Rangers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.
With his pace, Walker has the ability to trouble any defence in the world by going on the overlap but he always traces back and marks his opposition counterpart and tries to intercept before the danger arises. Standing at 1.78 metres, he is good in aerial duels as well, winning 2.1 duels per game and as a pass completion rate of 79.4%. With his performances this season, Walker has achieved an average rating of 7.37 in Premier League on WhoScored, apart from getting 2 Player of the Match awards which is rare for a right back.
Though Walker likes to play long balls from his defence into the attacking third, he is good with short passes as well, which suits the style of play employed by Barcelona. Walker will be a good replacement for Dani Alves, but only time will tell us if he will join Barcelona to win more silverware.
Statistics via WhoScored
