Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has revealed Kyle Walker has asked to ‘explore the option to play abroad’ after the veteran didn’t make the squad for Saturday night’s 8-0 FA Cup win over Salford.
The reigning Premier League champions ran riot at the Etihad Stadium, with James McAtee netting a hat-trick, Jeremy Doku bagging a brace and Divin Mubama, Nico O’Reilly and Jack Grealish also on target.
Walker was left out of the squad at a time when the defender is being linked with a move to Saudi Arabia.
The 34-year-old has won every major trophy during his spell at the Etihad Stadium – but now appears keen on a new challenge.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has revealed Kyle Walker has asked to ‘explore the option to play abroad’ after the veteran didn’t make the squad for Saturday night’s 8-0 FA Cup win over Salford
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Guardiola was asked about Walker’s absence in his post-match interview.
And the Spaniard revealed the former Tottenham star was considering a move abroad, which is why he was left out.
“Two days ago Kyle asked to explore the option to play abroad. He went to (director of football) Txiki Begiristain. For that reason I prefer to play (players) whose mind is here,” he said.
City have struggled at times so far this season.
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But Guardiola was delighted with his side’s straightforward victory and singled out McAtee for praise, saying: “We won finally a game with a good margin, all respect for Salford.
“It was not easy with the man marking but we were clinical up front and happy with the performance.
“I’m so happy for him [McAtee], he’s a special player. Scoring a hat-trick is not easy.
“He started a little bit flat but afterwards he has incredible sense in front of goal. He has the right tempo, he changed the rhythm to score.
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“So I’m really happy for him and for Nico O’Reilly, who was playing a position he’d never played before at left-back. We have a lot of problems in that position.
“We could have played Josko [Gvardiol] or Rico [Lewis] but they need to rest with the amount of games that are coming and that they’ve played in the past.
“Jeremy [Doku] played really good, so happy for everyone.
“Of course, [McAtee] can play better. He scored three goals but he can play better. First half was not his best but his work ethic, his composure and his rhythm… he’s a special player.
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Man City star Kyle Walker has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia
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“He’s been at City for a long time, a City supporter and he was one of the biggest talents at the academy from the generation of Jadon Sancho, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Liam Delap.
“He played with these guys and was the captain of them.”
Another player who impressed for City was Grealish.
Discussing the playmaker’s return to the scoresheet, Guardiola continued: “He made a good assist as well, not just the goal. He scored a goal, made an assist. Jack’s a special player, not always one to score a lot of goals but it depends on him.
Man City duo Jack Grealish and James McAtee were hailed by Pep Guardiola after Saturday night’s stirring win over Salford
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“If he can perform well, he’ll take the opportunity to keep going and going.
“All the players depend on the performance in training sessions and when they have minutes to play. It’s simple, not just for Jack, for all of them.
“I’ve been manager here for more than 500 games and we’ve made an incredible 487 or 488 games. Then we had 11, 12 or 13 bad games.
“The problem that we’ve had is that we’ve had an incredible amount of injuries so we could not train and we could not compete. It’s so difficult but step by step, people are coming back.
“This season or maybe next season, new players come in and you have to fight for your position. When someone pushes you, you have competition and you give your best.”
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