Kyle Walker has called out his former Manchester City team-mates who ‘went missing’ early last season under his captaincy.
The England full-back decided to leave the Cityzens in January after a difficult start to their Premier League campaign which saw him, and the rest of his team-mates, lose the form which secured them four consecutive Premier League titles.
He moved on to AC Milan, where he enjoyed the second half of last season after being convinced to make the Italian switch by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
To the surprise of many, Walker, who has 96 England caps to his name, joined newly-promoted Burnley this summer in a move which will see him go from fighting for titles to trying to avoid the the drop.
He’s now given his first press interview since the completion of the eyebrow-raising transfer, where he’s opened up on the difficult period which preceded his Man City exit.
‘I wasn’t playing,’ he told The Telegraph on his decision to leave, ‘I have the utmost respect for Manchester City fans. They have been incredible, incredible. We’ve given them fantastic moments. True fans who stuck with us through good and bad.
Kyle Walker is plying his trade at Burnley this season after making the move from Man City
In his first press interview since joining his new club, the full-back has opened up about his difficult last six months in Manchester a year ago
‘But I felt, I don’t want to say scapegoat because I don’t want to bring out the violins. But I was the captain and the team wasn’t doing well. There were big players missing in a big period in that season and I just felt like I was getting, not blamed. I won’t say blamed but I felt I was the excuse because I was the captain.’
In retrospect, Walker admits that he ‘probably shouldn’t have left’ City in the midst of their struggles.
‘Should I have left the team, looking back at it? Probably not,’ he added, ‘I probably should have stuck by the lads and came through the sticky patch together. But sometimes selfishly, you look at yourself and kind of think. “okay, well, let me go and experience something different.'”
The former Spurs defender was the subject of a lot of interest after leaving the Rossoneri, but ultimately chose Burnley after being convinced by his former team-mate and current Clarets manager Scott Parker to stay in the north west.
The pair played together for two years at Spurs and, coincidentally, Walker actually replaced Parker off the bench for his England debut in November 2011 against Spain.
‘My agent said Burnley are interested and he kind of said, “Am I a bit stupid in asking if you want to go there?”, And I said, “No, definitely not, I’d love to speak to Scott.”‘
Walker likely sees the move to Burnley, who are many people’s favourites to go down, as a chance to prove those who have written him off post-Man City wrong.
But as early as 2017, when Gary Linkers claimed he ‘couldn’t cross’, the Sheffield-born defender has had his doubters.
He told the publication: ‘I remember Gary Linker when I first signed for Man City. He said, “Imagine if he could cross a ball”.
Walker claimed some of his team-mates ‘went missing’ as City lost their form in the Premier League
The Sheffield-born star was convinced to join Burnley by his ex-team-mate Scott Parker
Their fight to avoid relegation got off to a losing start at Spurs on the opening weekend of the season
‘But now I look back and me and Gary have got a great relationship and he apologised for that. I look back and think, “okay, well, I’ve got six Premier Leagues. How many did you win?”‘
Burnley and Walker’s battle to stay in the Premier League however got off to a losing start on the opening day of the season away to Tottenham Hotspur.
Despite a spirited performance, the Clarets shipped three in north London, including a spectacular goal from Brazilian Richarlison.
They host fellow newly-promoted side Sunderland today in a fixture which already seems significant just two games into the season.