“We had no money” – Serie A manager makes Kyle Walker transfer admission amid impending Manchester City exit | OneFootball

AS Roma manager Claudio Ranieri has revealed the club were keen to sign Kyle Walker from Manchester City in January before the defender joined AC Milan on loan.

The 34 year-old is expected to leave Manchester City permanently at the end of his ongoing six-month loan stint in Serie A, with the Premier League champions simultaneously interested in signing Juventus’ Andrea Cambiaso as a replacement.

A series of individual mistakes and an evident drop-off in pace – compounding in a significant loss in form – meant Walker struggled for minutes across November and December, when City capitulated and endured their worst ever run of results under Pep Guardiola.

The England international received criticism from Manchester City fans online and was even subject to racial abuse, taking to Instagram to share the atrocious messages he was sent on social media for his performances on the pitch.

Walker has been a huge success since his £50 million move from Tottenham in 2017, helping Manchester City win six Premier League titles amongst a plethora of domestic success as well as a maiden Champions League title en route to a historic treble in the 2022/23 season.

However, the Sheffield-born full back is unlikely to make the cut under Guardiola in future and is almost certain to depart in the summer – penning an emotional farewell message to City fans on social media after he joined AC Milan on loan until the end of the current season.

In an interesting admission earlier this month, AS Roma manager Claudio Ranieri – who led Leicester City to Premier League glory against all odds in 2016 – admitted his side were interested in signing Kyle Walker in January.

On Roma’s interest in Walker, the 74-year-old told a recent interview, “We could have got him, but we had no money – and we couldn’t take another non-EU player,” as quoted and translated by Football Italia.

AC Milan retain a buy option that can make their signing of Walker permanent in the summer, and after deciding against a move to Bayern Munich in 2023, the former City captain would be keen to evade the eyes of British press and settle abroad at the end of his professional career.