“I will decide” – Pep Guardiola issues update on Kyle Walker following formal transfer request to Manchester City | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has issued a further update on the future of Kyle Walker, and whether the defender could feature for the club on Tuesday night.

The Premier League champions travel to the capital to take on Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium in a fixture that manager Guardiola has already warned will be an “enormously difficult” fixture for his side.

City do come into the clash with fresh optimism having recorded three successive wins across competitions, and having put eight goals beyond Salford City in the FA Cup third round on Saturday evening without response.

There were also wins for the club in both of their last two Premier League outings against Leicester City and West Ham, but plenty has changed since then and particularly concerning the future of the club’s captain.

The 34-year-old right-back informed the club and sporting director Txiki Begiristain of his intention to explore other options across the game this month after a challenging first-half to the season, with opportunities emerging in Italy and Saudi Arabia.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of Manchester City’s matchday 21 encounter in the Premier League away to Brentford, Pep Guardiola was unable to issue any further update on the future of Kyle Walker.

“No. No news,” Guardiola told reporters. “I will decide [if he will be in the Manchester City squad against Brentford] this afternoon, after training.”

When further pressed for details on the future of the England international, Guardiola continued to stand firm on his original response, “I said what I said. I won’t add anything else. I don’t have any news. It’s Brentford in my mind.”

Following the official word from the club and the Manchester City manager, transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano reported that Kyle Walker is not expected to play for the club against Brentford on Tuesday night.

This of course comes amid plans from the player and his family to leave the reigning Premier League champions this month, with Romano further highlighting that Serie A giants AC Milan are in active talks for the defender.

While Saudi Arabia have been long-term admirers of Walker and were once believed to be eyeing up a move for the veteran defender as part of their ongoing ambitious project in the Middle-East, the information is that the Manchester City defender wants to remain in Europe.

Walker has also not hidden his desire to return to boyhood side Sheffield United at some stage in his closing down career, but for now appears to believe that he can continue to operate at the highest-level of the game.

For Manchester City, the club will likely turn to Rico Lewis as their mainstay right-back, with possible support from a new arrival or the likes of Matheus Nunes or Manuel Akanji in particular outings this season.