Kyle Walker issues emotional farewell to Manchester City fans after Burnley transfer | OneFootball

Departing Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has issued an emotional message to supporters following his illustrious stay at the Etihad Stadium since 2017.

The 35-year-old has penned a two-year deal at Turf Moor to reunite with former Tottenham teammate and now Clarets manager Scott Parker after returning from loan at AC Milan, whom he joined in January after losing his starting place under Pep Guardiola.

Since joining from Tottenham in 2017, Walker has delivered an impressive return on investment and has proven to be one of Guardiola’s best signings at the Etihad Stadium, helping the Blues to six Premier League titles and their maiden UEFA Champions League trophy.

The Sheffield-born defender was tempted to join Bayern Munich after helping City to a sensational treble in 2023, but Guardiola convinced the England international to stay and gave Walker the armband as then club captain Ilkay Gundogan moved to Barcelona.

Widely renowned as one of the best full-backs in Premier League history, time has caught up with Walker in recent seasons and the right-back lost his place in Manchester City’s starting XI in the closing months of 2024 to the likes of Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis.

The former Tottenham man has also been in the media spotlight for reasons pertaining to his marriage and extramarital affairs, which were believed to have played a crucial role in the new Burnley signing’s decision to seek exile in Italy midway through the recent campaign.

Speaking in a video message to his followers on Instagram after penning a two-year agreement with Burnley, Walker insisted his move away from the Etihad Stadium was more of a ‘see you soon’ than a final farewell.

“Seven-and-a-half years, a truly amazing, fantastic, wonderful and special place that will remain truly in my heart forever,” the England international said. “I feel what we’ve achieved as a team, a club, and organisation, a family, that’s not just the players and staff but you as fans have been absolutely incredible.”

Walker continued, “The ups, downs, good times, bad times, the treble, the centurions, the fourmidables, four-in-a-row. You name it, we’ve kind of done it and I wanted to thank you, each and everyone associated with Manchester City.

“From Khaldoon (Al Mubarak), to Txiki (Begiristain) and obviously the manager (Pep Guardiola), you’ve truly left a special place in my heart forever and I’ll be fully in debt, grateful for what you made me not just experience, but my family and the good times we shared on and off the pitch, especially when we won trophies.”

Kyle Walker continued, “I wanted to say thank you to the lads, the players I’ve been with past and present, an absolute honour. Very, very fortunate to play with some legends but there’s still top, top legends at the club, top players and I believe you can carry on achieving what we’ve achieved over the last years.

“It’s kind of not a farewell, but a see you soon. Thank you once again to the fans, everyone associated from 2017. My chapter is moving somewhere different, a little bit of a different challenge but one I’m really looking forward to and attacking.”